First footage of Iran’s elusive supreme leader to be published soon, official says

By Reuters 9 August 2026, 2:53 pm

Edit

A man rides a scooter past a giant billboard that shows the former Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, center, and his son, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, with Arabic writing that reads: "Thank you Iran," in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Footage of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei “among the people and out in streets, as well in meetings with the commanders of armed forces” will be released in the future, Basij Organization deputy Qasem Qoraishi is reported as saying.

Khamenei, who was appointed supreme leader in March, has not been seen in public since being named.

A report on the Iranian judiciary’s news outlet Mizan carrying Qoraishi’s remarks appears to be aimed at quashing speculation about Khamenei’s health. Senior Iranian sources have said he suffered facial disfigurement and other injuries in the strike that killed his father on February 28, the first day of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.