Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly in ‘severe’ condition, unable to govern Iran

New supreme leader incapacitated in Qom, according to US-Israeli intelligence summarized in diplomatic memo, which also says Tehran prepping to bury father with others — possibly Mojtaba himself

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is unconscious and being treated for a “severe” medical issue, rendering him unable to govern the country, according to an intelligence assessment obtained by The Times British news outlet on Tuesday.

“Mojtaba Khamenei is being treated in [the Iranian city of] Qom in a severe condition, unable to be involved in any decision-making by the regime,” read a diplomatic memo, which The Times said is based on US-Israeli intelligence and shared with their Gulf allies.

It marked the first time a report has revealed Khamenei’s location publicly since the beginning of the war. He is believed to have been wounded in the opening wave of US-Israeli strikes on February 28.

The document also revealed preparations for the burial of his father and former supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Qom — considered a holy city in Shi’ite Islam — after he was killed in the same strikes that launched the fighting.

Intelligence agencies surmised preparations were underway to lay the “groundworks needed to build a large mausoleum in Qom,” south of Tehran for “more than one grave,” the memo read.

The memo apparently implied that other family members — possibly Mojtaba himself — would be buried alongside the late ayatollah.

Since being chosen to lead Iran, the younger Khamenei has not been seen or even heard from, leading to intense speculation over his condition and whereabouts, as well as to what extent he is in control of the Iranian government and military.

In the weeks after the regime confirmed that Khamenei was wounded in the same airstrike that killed his father, mother, wife and son, state media began to release written statements purportedly authored by the 56-year-old leader.

On Monday, a state-run news channel released an AI-generated video of the new supreme leader entering a war room and surveying a map of Israel’s nuclear research facility in Dimona. State media regularly publish images of Khamenei, but without giving any indication that they are new. He also has his own official Telegram and X accounts.

On March 23, American and Israeli security officials told The Washington Post that Khamenei was “wounded, isolated and not responding to messages being relayed to him,” amid rumors that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and some clerics had tightened their control over Iran.

Iranian state media has previously indicated that the elder Khamenei would be laid to rest in a Shia shrine in his native Mashhad, but a state funeral has not yet been announced. The regime postponed such a public event due to “anticipation of unprecedented turnout,” according to The Times report; however, questions have swirled over the delay.

It is customary in Shi’ite tradition to bury the dead immediately after their passing. Wednesday is the 40-day anniversary of Khamenei’s death on February 28, marking the end of the sect’s mourning period.

Funerals have been held for other high-ranking Iranian officials killed in ongoing US-Israeli strikes, among them former Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Larijani and former Basij chief Gholamreza Soleimani.