Mojtaba Khamenei Reportedly Secretly Flew to Russia for Surgery
Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, reportedly flew to Russia in secret to undergo surgery. Mojtaba is said to have sustained injuries from a combined US and Israeli attack on 28 February 2026.
According to Metro.co.uk as reported by detikNews on Monday, 16 March 2026, the secret evacuation was carried out to allow Mojtaba to undergo foot surgery to save his life. The operation on the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly conducted at one of Vladimir Putin’s presidential palaces.
Mojtaba previously issued an angry statement demanding retaliation against the US and Israel.
Kuwait’s Al-Jarida newspaper reported that Mojtaba had been evacuated from a bunker that was hit in the US-Israeli assault. This bunker was the hideout for his father, mother, wife and young son, who was killed in the US-Israeli attack.
According to Al-Jarida’s report, Mojtaba was “smuggled” out of Iran to undergo secret surgery in Russia. During the secret evacuation, Mojtaba was reportedly airlifted by Russian military aircraft in severely wounded condition.
Upon arriving in Russia, Mojtaba allegedly underwent a “successful” operation at one of Putin’s presidential palaces, according to Al-Jarida.
Various reports describe Mojtaba’s condition differently, ranging from a broken foot and facial wounds to the loss of one leg and a comatose state.
Al-Jarida described the unverified information as coming from a “senior official close to Iran’s new Supreme Leader”. However, Tehran has not directly responded to the media reports.
Iranian authorities stated that Mojtaba is alive, after US President Donald Trump said he had heard information that Iran’s new Supreme Leader was dead.
“The leader of the revolution is in good health and is fully monitoring the situation,” said Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
For context, Mojtaba Khamenei was selected to replace his late father, Ali Khamenei, from 1 March onwards. Khamenei died in the US-Israeli attack on 28 February.
However, to date, Mojtaba has not made a public appearance before the Iranian people. His first statement was made via a written letter that was read by an Iranian television presenter on Thursday, 12 March of the previous week.
In his statement, Mojtaba promised to close the Strait of Hormuz and called on Iran’s neighbouring countries to shut down US military bases in their territories. He also threatened that these countries would become targets of Tehran’s attacks if the US military bases were not closed.
“I assure everyone that we will not hold back in avenging the blood of the martyrs,” he stated.