Iran says Khamenei suffered only minor injuries in February strikes

Tuesday 26 May 2026 - 09:36

By: Dakir Madiha

Iran says Khamenei suffered only minor injuries in February strikes

Iran's Health Ministry provided its first public account Monday of injuries sustained by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during the February 28 American-Israeli strikes on Tehran, describing them as superficial and dismissing months of international reporting that suggested he had been gravely wounded or disfigured.

Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour told the state-affiliated ILNA news agency that Khamenei suffered injuries to his face, head, and legs during the strikes that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but stressed that the wounds required minimal medical intervention. Kermanpour said the injuries consisted of superficial damage to the face, head, and legs, with no amputations or significant complications, and that from a medical standpoint they were not considered serious, requiring no special treatment beyond one or two sutures. He added that the 56-year-old left hospital in the early hours of March 1.

The statement directly contradicts earlier reporting that described severe burns to Khamenei's face and lips, multiple surgeries on one of his legs, and the prospect of a prosthetic limb. In the weeks following the strikes, multiple sources cited by international outlets claimed Khamenei had fallen into a coma at Sina University Hospital and had lost at least one leg. Iranian authorities characterized those reports as disinformation spread by the country's adversaries to sow instability during a period of acute national crisis.

Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader on March 8 following his father's death but has not appeared publicly since. His first national address, delivered on March 13, was read aloud by a television presenter in his absence, fueling widespread speculation inside Iran about who was effectively governing the country. The absence has stretched to nearly three months, and no photographs or video footage confirming his current condition have been released.

Two developments in recent weeks provided limited public reassurance. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated in early May that he had met with Khamenei in person for two and a half hours, marking the first confirmation by a senior official of a direct encounter with the Supreme Leader since his appointment. Separately, a senior official from the Supreme Leader's office, Mazaher Hosseini, asserted that Khamenei was in perfect health and had simply been knocked over by a blast wave during the strikes.

Monday's Health Ministry statement comes as Iran continues diplomatic negotiations with the United States against a backdrop of ongoing regional conflict. Whether the official account will quiet speculation remains uncertain. The Supreme Leader's prolonged absence from public life, combined with the absence of any visual evidence of his condition, is likely to sustain questions about the true state of his health and the inner workings of Iranian governance during one of the most turbulent periods in the Islamic Republic's history.