Iran Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Was Pulled From Rubble After Hospital Strike, Claim Says

Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was reportedly rescued from the ruins of a Tehran hospital following a series of US and Israeli strikes, according to a report by the New York Post. Mohsen Heydari, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, disclosed this information in an interview with Qatari television network Al Araby. Heydari stated that Khamenei, who was wounded and taken to the hospital, was pulled from the rubble of the third hospital despite earlier bombings of three hospitals in Tehran.

Post-strike, Khamenei disappeared and has since been unseen in public or heard from. Heydari also shared details about how Khamenei became Iran's new supreme leader on March 8. He revealed that Khamenei was unaware of his selection until it was announced on Iranian state television. The Assembly of Experts, responsible for choosing the supreme leader, was targeted in the strikes, with its Qom Secretariat being bombed, killing eight people.

According to Heydari, the members of the Assembly wrote their votes on paper before being summoned to a secret room for the selection process. He claimed to be the first to propose Khamenei's name, stating, "Given the enemy’s position, we will choose and elect no one as leader and supreme guide of the Islamic Republic except Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei." The nine members of the Assembly ultimately voted in favor of Khamenei, with 50 out of 59 votes in his favor.