Hours before Ayatollah Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei shared his first message on March 12, 2026, The Sun reported that the new Supreme Leader of Iran was in a coma. The British tabloid also claimed that the 56-year-old son of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei (April 19, 1939 – February 28, 2026) lost one of his legs, apart from suffering a serious stomach or liver damage!

Citing a source in Tehran, The Sun has mentioned in the report that the new Supreme Leader is in intensive care at the Sina University Hospital in the Iranian capital. As per the tabloid, a section of the hospital building has been sealed off with a huge security present. The source, who has not been named because of security reasons, stressed that the condition of Mojtaba was “very serious” and Dr Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi, a top trauma surgeon and the Health Minister of Iran, was looking after the Supreme Leader. The Sun quoted him as saying: “One or two of his legs have been cut off. His liver or stomach has also ruptured. He is apparently in a coma as well.” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, too, backed the claim, saying that Mojtaba was likely disfigured.

According to political analysts, it is quite difficult to know about the health condition of the Iranian leader on the basis of information provided by the Western media which have been publishing biased news on the Iran War. Their headlines have dodged naming the US or Israel as bombers of an Iranian school that killed 168 girls. While Iran’s actions get clear blame, joint strikes by the US and Israel get passive voice and ambiguity. In an article published in Outlook on March 12, 2026, Mohammad Ali wrote: “Readers relying solely on Western media coverage could easily miss a basic fact: Who carried out the strike. The New York Times headline read: Analysis suggests School Was Hit Amid US Strikes on Iranian Naval Base.”

Assal Rad, a research scholar and a fellow at the Arab Centre, told Outlook that the headline “totally hid the fact that 168 people, mostly children, were killed in a US strike”. Instead, it casts doubt through “analysis suggests”. According to Rad, “School was hit” is in passive voice and “Amid strikes on Iranian Naval Base” intends to justify the reason for the attack.

As Britain has activated its propaganda machinery, Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, has confirmed that the new Supreme Leader is safe and sound. He posted on Telegram: “I heard news about Mr Mojtaba being injured. I asked friends who had contact. They said: ‘Thank God, he is healthy and there is no problem.’” According to Yousef, the new Supreme Leader decided to avoid public appearances as he received injuries in the ongoing joint strikes by the US and Israel.

On March 12, 2026, Mojtaba issued a statement, stressing that the Islamic Republic would not hesitate to take revenge for the crimes committed by the enemy, especially the Minab school massacre that killed 168 girls. He urged the neighbouring Gulf nations to close the US military bases, saying that Tehran would otherwise be compelled to continue targeting those bases. Mojtaba further said that Iran had only targeted the US bases without attacking those countries. He requested them to determine their position regarding the “aggressors and the killers of our people“, stating: “We have borders with 15 countries, and we have always desired and still desire to establish constructive relations with them.“

Earlier, the Iranian State Television referred to Mojtaba as Jaanbaz of Ramadan or a wounded war veteran, admitting that he received injuries. However, there have been widespread, unverified rumours, highlighted mainly by the Western media, that Iran is being run by a Ghost Ayatollah.

With inputs from Outlook.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das