US President, Donald Trump said he believes Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive but “damaged.”
Khamenei, whose father Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, has not been seen publicly since his selection by a clerical assembly on Sunday.
His first public comments were delivered by a television presenter on Thursday.
“I think he probably is (alive). I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ programme The Brian Kilmeade Show.
In his first remarks since becoming supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and urged neighbouring countries to shut down US military bases on their territory or risk being targeted by Iran.
The United States and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28, with Tehran responding through strikes on Israel and Gulf countries hosting US bases.
As the conflict approaches the two-week mark having killed thousands and shaken global financial markets, the leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States have all voiced defiance and pledged to continue the fight.
