Iran's newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei sustained severe facial disfigurement and significant injuries to one or both legs in the February 28 air strike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to three people close to his inner circle who spoke to Reuters. The 56-year-old has not appeared in any photo, video or audio recording since the attack or since his appointment as supreme leader on March 8. Iran's United Nations mission did not respond to questions about his condition or his absence from public view.

Despite the severity of his injuries, sources described Khamenei as mentally sharp and said he is participating in meetings with senior officials via audio conferencing and is engaged in decision-making on major issues. Two of the sources said his involvement includes the ongoing war and peace negotiations with the United States. There has been no official Iranian statement on the extent of his wounds, though a state television newsreader referred to him after his appointment as a "janbaz," a term reserved for those badly wounded in war.

The accounts align with a statement made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on March 13, in which he said Khamenei was "wounded and likely disfigured." A source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments told Reuters that Khamenei was believed to have lost a leg. The CIA declined to comment, and the Israeli prime minister's office did not respond to questions.

Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded on the first day of a war launched by the United States and Israel, the same strike that killed his father, who had ruled Iran since 1989. His wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were also killed in the attack on the supreme leader's compound in central Tehran. The elder Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic for nearly four decades before his death.

The question of Khamenei's capacity to govern carries significant weight as Iran faces what analysts describe as its gravest crisis in decades. High-stakes peace talks between Iran and the United States opened April 11 in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that regardless of injury severity, the new and inexperienced leader would face serious challenges in commanding authority over the Iranian state.