Trump Claims Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is Dead
United States President Donald Trump has claimed that Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been killed. The statement from Trump has shocked many parties.
Trump issued the statement because Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen for a long time. Trump said the leader was most likely already dead as a result of the war. Trump also reiterated that Iran’s military capability has been severely weakened.
“They (Iran) don’t have a Navy. They don’t have an Air Force. Everything is gone. Their anti-aircraft defences have been destroyed. All of their leaders have been killed,” Trump said, as reported by detikNews.
During an interview, Trump mistakenly referred to the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as “Khomeini”, or Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian revolution who died in 1989.
“Their best leaders have been killed. They are finished. Khomeini is gone,” said Trump, apparently misnaming the late Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the wave of initial US-Israel strikes on 28 February.
“His son is 90 percent gone,” claimed the US President, referring to Mojtaba, Iran’s current supreme leader and son of the late Ali Khamenei.
According to detikcom’s records, Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts have been in question publicly for months. US intelligence reported that Mojtaba was seriously wounded and suffered severe physical disabilities as a result of the US-Israeli attack.
Mojtaba was reported to have been in the same residence as his father when the US and Israeli air strikes took place, but he survived because he was in a different room. At the time, Iran’s ambassador to Cyprus, Alireza Salarian, said Mojtaba suffered injuries to his legs, hands and arms and was being treated in hospital.
Since the attack, Mojtaba has never appeared in public or delivered any speech. He has not even appeared publicly since being installed as Iran’s supreme leader in March.
Speculation over Mojtaba’s whereabouts has continued, as he was absent from the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mojtaba was not seen at the funeral ceremonies held over several days in cities across Iran and Iraq at the beginning of this month. He only emerged after his late father was buried on 9 July 2026.
However, he did not appear physically. Mojtaba only released a statement affirming that he would avenge his father’s death.
“This revenge is the will of our nation and must be carried out,” he said in a letter signed on Friday (10/7/2026). “This matter does not depend on my personal presence, nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will happen,” Mojtaba said in his statement.
“We promise to avenge the blood of our fallen leader and all the martyrs of these two wars against those criminal and despicable killers,” Mojtaba declared.