Trump Claims Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Is Dead

US President Donald Trump has made the startling claim that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has died. The whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei have been a subject of public speculation for months. The New York Post, citing US intelligence assessments, reported that Mojtaba was seriously injured and left with severe physical disabilities following a US-Israeli attack. He was reportedly in the same residence as his father when the strikes occurred but survived because he was in a different room. Iran’s ambassador to Cyprus, Alireza Salarian, later stated that Mojtaba suffered injuries to his legs, hands, and arms and was receiving hospital treatment. Since the attack, Mojtaba has not appeared in public or delivered any speeches, including after his appointment as Supreme Leader in March. Speculation intensified when he failed to attend the funeral ceremonies for his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, held across several cities in Iran and Iraq. Mojtaba only surfaced after his father’s burial on 9 July 2026, issuing a written statement vowing revenge. ‘This revenge is the will of our nation and must be carried out,’ he stated, adding that the matter did not depend on his personal presence. In a Fox News interview, Trump claimed Iran’s military capabilities had been decimated. ‘They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. It’s all gone. Their anti-aircraft defences are destroyed. Their leaders have all been killed,’ Trump said. He mistakenly referred to the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as ‘Khomeini’ before asserting, ‘His son, 90 per cent, he’s gone,’ in reference to Mojtaba Khamenei.