Amid reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is in a coma, Iran’s Supreme Leader on Sunday posted a picture of himself meeting an Iranian ambassador.
Multiple media reports recently claimed that Khamenei, 85, was in a coma and that he had nominated his 55-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor in a secret meeting. The reports came after The New York Times in October said that Khamenei was “seriously ill.”
In the picture posted on Khamenei’s X account, he was seen talking to Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani in his office.
“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,” he wrote in Persian.
ظهر امروز یکشنبه ۲۷ آبان ۱۴۰۳؛ دیدار و گفتوگو با آقای مجتبی امانی، سفیر جانباز جمهوری اسلامی ایران در لبنان pic.twitter.com/ctIRbi9bVA
— KHAMENEI.IR | فارسی 🇮🇷 (@Khamenei_fa) November 17, 2024
Amani was among nearly 3,000 people who were injured when pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group exploded in Lebanon in September. At least 39 people were also killed in the attack, which Iran and Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
Amani presented a report of his latest health status to him, an official statement said.
Last month, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his first sermon in five years after Iran launched 180 missiles targeting crucial infrastructure in Israel.
He said Israel “won’t last long” as he backed the Palestinian and Lebanese movements against Israel in his rare sermon on October 5.
Addressing tens of thousands of supporters at a mosque in Tehran, Khamenei justified its missile strikes on Israel as a “public service”.
Holding a gun while speaking, the Iran leader declared that Israel would not prevail against Hamas or Hezbollah.
Iran supports both Hamas and Hezbollah, who are engaged in fighting with Israeli troops on its southern and northern fronts.
