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Akbar Novruz

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Tayyebeh Mahroozadeh, the mother-in-law of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, has claimed that she personally saw him in “complete health” on the night his father, Ali Khamenei, was buried at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad.

Her remarks add another claim from within Iran’s establishment about the condition of the country’s new supreme leader, who has remained out of public view since being wounded in the February 28 US-Israeli strikes.

“I saw him that very night; thank God he was in complete health and soundness,” Mahroozadeh said in a video interview published by Akhbar Mashhad.

Iranian outlets subsequently carried the remarks, reporting that Mahroozadeh said Mojtaba Khamenei had been present at the shrine during his father’s burial. However, no photograph, video or recent audio recording of Mojtaba accompanied the report.

Mahroozadeh is the wife of Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel and the mother of Zahra Haddad-Adel, Mojtaba Khamenei’s late wife. Zahra was killed in the February 28 attack targeting Ali Khamenei’s residential compound and office.

Ali Khamenei was killed during the opening US-Israeli strikes on February 28 and was eventually buried at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad in July. Reuters reported at the time that his successor remained out of public view.

Officially released footage of the mourning and burial ceremonies did not show Mojtaba Khamenei, while his three brothers were visible beside their father’s casket, according to IranWire. His absence contributed to continuing questions over his condition.

Mojtaba Khamenei was selected as Iran’s new supreme leader on March 8, eight days after his father’s death. Since then, he has not made a public appearance, with communications attributed to him instead being issued in other forms.

Questions surrounding his health have persisted since the February strikes.

Reuters reported in April, citing three people close to his inner circle, that Mojtaba Khamenei had suffered severe injuries to his face and legs in the attack that killed his father. The sources said his face had been disfigured and that he had sustained a significant injury to one or both legs, although they also described him as mentally sharp and involved in decision-making while recovering.

Iranian officials have presented a markedly different picture of his current condition.

President Masoud Pezeshkian recently told CBS News that he had met Mojtaba Khamenei twice, including during one meeting lasting more than seven hours. Pezeshkian, himself a physician, said Khamenei had recovered from injuries to his face and legs.

“From a medical standpoint, he’s completely healthy,” Pezeshkian said. “He has no issues.”

Pezeshkian said the supreme leader had “no specific ongoing health issues or challenges,” pointing to the length of their meeting as evidence of his condition. No imagery of those meetings was released publicly.

Mahroozadeh’s latest account therefore adds another assertion that Mojtaba Khamenei has recovered, but does not resolve the uncertainty created by his continued absence from public view.

The competing accounts range from Iranian officials and relatives describing him as healthy to earlier reports of severe injuries. In the absence of a recent independently verifiable public appearance, his present physical condition cannot be independently established.