Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has met with Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, amid rumours of about his health condition.
Reports had recently suggested that Khamenei, 85, was in a coma and had secretly nominated his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor. The claims followed an October report by ‘The New York Times’ that stated tha Khamenei was “seriously ill.”
But on Sunday, the Iranian supreme leader shared a photo of himself and the Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon on his official X (formerly Twitter) account with te accompanying caption: “Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, met and talked with Mr Mojtaba Amani, the veteran ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lebanon, at noon today, on the sidelines of his daily meetings.”
Amani, who was injured in a September explosion in Lebanon that killed 39 people and injured nearly 3,000, reportedly briefed Khamenei on his recovery and current health status, according to an official statement. Iran and Hezbollah blamed the explosion on Israel, though details remain disputed.
This development came after Khamenei delivered his first sermon in five years on October 5, following Iran’s missile strikes targeting critical infrastructure in Israel. Addressing a crowd in Tehran, Khamenei declared, “Israel won’t last long,” reiterating his support for Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements.
The rare sermon also saw Khamenei justifying the missile strikes as a “public service” and asserting Iran’s backing of Hamas and Hezbollah. “Israel will not prevail against Hamas or Hezbollah,” Khamenei stated, holding a firearm as he spoke to tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran.
Iran has maintained strong ties with both Hamas and Hezbollah, who are currently engaged in conflicts with Israeli forces on the southern and northern fronts.
LEADERSHIP reports that Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei has ruled since 1989.
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