Mojtaba Khamenei's first substantive public communication since becoming supreme leader was a written message read on his behalf on state television on Thursday1. He has not appeared in any verified video, audio recording, or photograph since the Assembly of Experts installed him following his father's death on 28 February.
The message claimed the "enemy has been defeated" and praised Iranians for "building a nationwide defensive front across cities, neighbourhoods, and mosques." He urged Iranian media to "refrain from focusing on the country's weaknesses" — a call for self-censorship during the most destructive military campaign Iran has experienced since the 1980–88 war with Iraq. He accused Israel of staging false-flag attacks on Turkey and Oman without providing evidence. The accusations appeared designed for a domestic audience living under telecommunications blackout, not as a diplomatic communication.
Khamenei's physical absence has deepened with each passing week. He failed to deliver a Nowruz address — a tradition every supreme leader has maintained since 1979. A leaked audio recording obtained by The Telegraph described his wife and son killed in the 28 February strikes; he survived with a leg injury by "mere seconds". US Defence Secretary Hegseth has described him as "wounded and likely disfigured." Trump told reporters he may have "lost his leg". IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin has publicly named him as an assassination target. Iran's supreme leader has historically derived authority through physical presence — Friday prayer addresses, televised meetings with military commanders, appearances at national events. That Khamenei can produce only written text, read by proxies, after three weeks of war suggests either severe physical incapacity or security constraints so acute that even a controlled video recording is deemed too dangerous.
The victory claim contradicts every available measure. Hengaw's figures count 5,305 military and 595 civilian dead across 184 cities in 26 provinces. Four members of the senior leadership have been killed in seven days. The IRGC has been driven from its headquarters into tent encampments to evade targeting. Khamenei's instruction that media should stop reporting weaknesses is an acknowledgement that those weaknesses exist and are visible enough to require suppression.
