RT by @mikenov: RT by @mikenov: 🇮🇷 Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since February, when a U.S.-Israeli strike killed his father, his wife, his sister, his brother-in-law, and his 14-month-old niece. He was reportedly injured in the same strike. He will not attend his father’s funeral this week. Security officials say Israel will kill him if he surfaces. His existence is confirmed only by written statements on state media. In June he approved a ceasefire he said he opposed “on principle.” 10 days later he called for the criminals to be “seized by the collar.” 2 messages, 5 months, 0 appearances. Iran’s hardliners are calling it a coup because a supreme le

🇮🇷 Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not appeared in public since February, when a U.S.-Israeli strike killed his father, his wife, his sister, his brother-in-law, and his 14-month-old niece.

He was reportedly injured in the same strike. He will not attend his father’s funeral this week. Security officials say Israel will kill him if he surfaces.

His existence is confirmed only by written statements on state media. In June he approved a ceasefire he said he opposed “on principle.” 10 days later he called for the criminals to be “seized by the collar.” 2 messages, 5 months, 0 appearances.

Iran’s hardliners are calling it a coup because a supreme leader who cannot show his face cannot project supreme authority. Iran’s pragmatists are running the country in the vacuum. The IRGC generals are making the decisions. And the man theoretically in charge is somewhere in hiding, signing statements nobody can verify he actually wrote.

The most powerful position in the Islamic Republic is currently occupied by a ghost. What does a country look like when its supreme leader can’t come out?

Source: Al Jazeera / Writer: Oliver

— @MarioNawfal Jul 5, 2026