Tehran, Mar 16 (V7N) — Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has reportedly been taken to Moscow for emergency surgery after being seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike, according to reports from regional and international media.

Media reports claim that Mojtaba Khamenei sustained severe injuries during ongoing Israeli attacks and was later transferred to Russia for urgent medical treatment. The development comes after the reported death of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on February 28, after which Mojtaba was reportedly chosen as the country’s new top religious authority.

Several news outlets earlier reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was critically injured in the same wave of attacks. He was initially admitted to Sina University Hospital in Tehran, where sources claimed he had been in a coma following the strike.

According to a report by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida, Khamenei’s condition was described as extremely serious. The report alleged that, following the deterioration of his health, Russian President Vladimir Putin arranged for his emergency transfer to Russia for surgery.

The mission to move Iran’s new Ayatollah out of the country was reportedly carried out under strict secrecy. According to the report, he was transported to Moscow aboard a Russian military aircraft.

Citing Al Jarida, the British newspaper Daily Mail reported that Mojtaba Khamenei was kept at one of President Putin’s presidential residences in Moscow, where doctors successfully performed surgery on his injured leg.

Al Jarida said the information came from a senior source close to the Iranian leadership. The source claimed that Khamenei had been injured early in the US military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury and that Iran’s ongoing war conditions made advanced treatment inside the country difficult.

Another Iranian source, speaking to the British newspaper The Sun, claimed that doctors may have been forced to amputate one or both of Khamenei’s legs due to the severity of the injuries. The report also suggested that his liver and stomach had been damaged and that he might still be in a coma.

The unnamed source added that one of Iran’s leading trauma surgeons, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, was overseeing the treatment of the new Supreme Leader.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a press briefing on Friday that he believed Mojtaba Khamenei had indeed been wounded. He said intelligence suggested that the new Supreme Leader had suffered serious injuries and possibly the loss of limbs.

Iranian officials have acknowledged that the country’s new leader was injured but have so far released no detailed information about his condition. An unnamed Iranian official told the British newspaper The Telegraph that the situation surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei remains unclear.

The official said that many within Iran’s leadership were uncertain about his current status. According to the source, it remains unknown whether he is alive or dead, and he is not currently present in the country to oversee wartime decisions.

The official added that most military commanders in Iran have little information about his condition, further deepening uncertainty during a period of intense conflict.

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