Mojtaba Khamenei rescued from bombed Tehran hospital after February strikes
Mojtaba Khamenei was pulled from the wreckage of a Tehran hospital that was bombed following the February attacks on his father, and he has not appeared publicly since.
In February, strikes aimed at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran compound killed the 86-year-old supreme leader and dozens of senior officials, and were followed by bombings of three Tehran hospitals. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was first hospitalized for injuries from the initial attack and then rescued from the rubble of a second hospital after it was hit, according to Assembly of Experts member Mohsen Heydari. He vanished from public life thereafter.
Heydari explained that the Assembly of Experts, itself a target of the attacks, convened in secrecy to elect Mojtaba Khamenei, awarding him 50 of 59 votes, with eight votes for Alireza Arafi and one abstention. The younger Khamenei reportedly learned of his selection only when it was broadcast on state television. The episode follows earlier statements by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the leader’s health.
Why it matters
It reveals how a leadership transition in Iran unfolded amid violent attacks on medical facilities.
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