Tehran, 15 March (H.S.): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted on Saturday that the Islamic Republic faces no problem with its newly ascended Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, directly countering U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that the 56-year-old cleric remains alive yet grievously damaged from recent airstrikes.
Khamenei has remained absent from public view since a U.S.-Israeli joint operation on February 28 fatally struck down his father, the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with other prominent family members, plunging the leadership into uncharted turmoil.
Iranian officials have acknowledged reports of his injuries without elaboration, while Araghchi emphasized that Khamenei issued a message the previous day and stands ready to execute his duties.
In his inaugural address as supreme leader, broadcast via state television, Mojtaba Khamenei promised retribution against the U.S. and Israel, declaring that a limited amount of this revenge has so far taken concrete form but vowing to pursue full recompense as a core priority.
He threatened to seize enemy assets or demolish equivalent property if compensation proves elusive, while urging neighbors to shutter U.S. military bases or face Iranian strikes, and recommitted to blockading the Strait of Hormuz—a chokepoint for global oil flows.
Trump, speaking to Fox News on Thursday, speculated that Khamenei probably is alive... damaged, but... alive in some form, a claim echoed Friday by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who described the leader as wounded and likely disfigured. These pronouncements coincide with U.S. strikes on Iran's Kharg Island, a critical oil export hub handling 80-90% of Tehran's crude, where military targets were obliterated but petroleum facilities spared—for now—as a pointed warning against Hormuz disruptions.
The conflict, now in its third week, has ignited retaliatory Iranian assaults on Israel and Gulf states hosting U.S. forces, alongside port evacuations in the UAE labeled legitimate targets. Oil markets reel from Hormuz closures, with Trump touting naval escorts and further raids as big wins ahead of schedule in the war effort.
As tensions simmer, Khamenei's defiant posture signals no imminent capitulation, potentially prolonging a confrontation with profound geopolitical stakes.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
