Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has, in a written message, thanked the people of Iraq for their support in the Islamic Theocratic
Republic’s war against the United States and Israel, Iranian media said on Sunday.
Khamenei is the son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
, who was killed in an
...KABOOM!...
at the start of the war on February 28. The younger Khamenei has yet to appear in public after being named Iran’s leader earlier this month, and even his voice has not been heard. Instead, written statements attributed to him have been carried by state media.
His failure to appear in person has led to intense speculation over his condition and whereabouts, as well as to what extent he is in control of the Iranian government and military. State television and some Iranian officials have indicated he is recovering from wounds sustained in an airstrike. The nature and severity of those wounds is unclear.
In the message attributed to him, Khamenei "expressed his appreciation to the supreme religious authority (in Iraq) and the people of Iraq for their clear stance against aggression against Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and their support for our country," Iran’s ISNA news agency said, referring to the Iraq-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam.
The message was delivered following a meeting between the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council
Led by Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI, formerly the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRII, pronounced Scarey)) is not nearly as supreme as it makes out to be. The al-Hakim family business is merely another one of political parties, this one Shiite and with its power base in the south of the country. The Iranian government sponsored the party's creation in 1982 during the Iran-Iraq war after the leading Iraqi Islamist group was weakened by a government crackdown. Designed as an umbrella organization to unite Iraqi Shi'a groups, the party supports Islamic government controlled by holy men. In post-Saddam Iraq ISCI has worked closely with other Shi'a organizations to provide social services and humanitarian aid. Though accused of receiving money and weapons from Iran, ISCI leaders maintain that the party is committed to democracy and peaceful cooperation. The Badr Brigade initially acted as ISCI's armed wing but later to split to form the independent Badr Organization., a Shia party, and the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, it said.
No further details were given on how the message was transmitted.
Since being named, Khamenei has released a first statement as supreme leader and another message for the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
Neither statement featured video or audio of the supreme leader. They were read out on television by another speaker, and defiantly predicted victory in the war.
State media regularly publish images of Mojtaba Khamenei but without giving any indication that they are new. He also has his own official Telegram and X accounts.