Mojtaba Khamenei Survived by Walking in Garden During Strike
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Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, survived the Israeli missile strike that killed his father only because he had stepped outside into a courtyard moments before the missiles hit, according to leaked audio obtained and verified by The Telegraph.
The recording captures Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for the late Ali Khamenei’s office, briefing senior clerics and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders on March 12 in Tehran’s Qolhak neighbourhood. His account provides the first detailed reconstruction of what happened inside the supreme leader’s compound on February 28, when Israeli Blue Sparrow ballistic missiles struck at 9:32 a.m. local time.
How Mojtaba Khamenei Survived the Strike
“God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return,” Hosseini told the gathering, as heard on the recording. He was heading back upstairs when the missiles hit. His wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, was killed instantly. His son, Bagher, also died in the strike. Mojtaba himself sustained what Hosseini described as only “a minor injury to his leg.”
The compound housed multiple residences and was struck at several points simultaneously. Three missiles hit the supreme leader’s location alone. Mojtaba’s brother-in-law, Misbah al-Huda Bagheri Kani, was decapitated by the force of a missile that penetrated through the floor of the building. His brother Mostafa and Mostafa’s wife escaped with minor injuries from dust and rubble.
Among the dead were Ali Khamenei, IRGC chief Mohammad Pakpour, and Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh. Military bureau chief Mohammad Shirazi was killed with particular deliberateness, according to Hosseini. “He was blown to pieces — they could find nothing from him, and at the end they found a few kilos of flesh and identified it as his body,” he said. Hosseini suggested Israel targeted Shirazi specifically because he held comprehensive knowledge of Iran’s military personnel and was considered irreplaceable in any succession plan.
Mojtaba Khamenei Survived but His Condition Remains Unknown
Since Mojtaba Khamenei survived the attack, he has not appeared publicly, fuelling widespread speculation about his true condition. His only communication with the Iranian public came through a written statement read on state television. No other Khamenei family members have issued public messages or pledges of allegiance since the strikes.
President Trump said Monday, “We don’t know if he’s dead or not.” An Iranian official told The Telegraph that military commanders themselves had “no news about him.”
Questions about his fitness to lead predate the strikes:
- US intelligence assessments, cited by CBS News, suggest Ali Khamenei considered his son “not very bright” and “unqualified to be leader”
- Senior non-clerical figures had opposed the hereditary succession, calling it reminiscent of the monarchy the 1979 revolution overthrew
- IRGC commanders who served alongside Mojtaba in the Iran-Iraq war described the then-teenager as “hapless”
Trump said Friday: “Their leadership is gone. Their second leadership is gone. Now their third leadership is in trouble, and this is not somebody that the father even wanted.”
Mojtaba’s personal history adds further complexity. In 1998, he spent two months at the Sheraton Grand on Park Lane in London — occupying an entire floor at a reported cost exceeding £1 million — while his wife received fertility treatment. The group travelled with Saeed Emami, a senior intelligence operative linked to the murders of Iranian dissidents, who later died in custody under disputed circumstances in 1999.
