US and Israel Wound Iran's New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Pentagon Says

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly asserted that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded and “likely disfigured,” questioning his capacity to lead after intense US and Israeli strikes.

“United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has claimed that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been wounded in US-Israeli attacks on the country”

Al Jazeera

France 24 reported that Hegseth said Khamenei was "wounded and likely disfigured," framing the claim in the context of "nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran."

Al Jazeera

NBC News ran the headline "Hegseth says new supreme leader was ‘wounded and likely disfigured'" reflecting mainstream U.S. coverage of the Pentagon's statement.

Al Jazeera noted Hegseth's broader remarks about the campaign, reporting that "During his address on Friday, Hegseth said that US and Israeli attacks have struck more than 15,000 Iranian targets since February 28," underlining the scale Hegseth cited while making his claim about Khamenei.

Iran's leadership visibility and Tehran's own messaging are contested: France 24 reported that "Khamenei has not been seen by Iranians since his selection on Sunday by a clerical assembly, and his first comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday," while an Iranian official told the outlet he was "lightly injured but was continuing to operate."

Al Jazeera described mass public events in Tehran, noting that "Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and top Iranian security official Ali Larijani were seen at a mass al-Quds Day demonstration in the capital, Tehran," signalling elements of public leadership visibility.

France 24

NBC's coverage included related on-the-ground incidents, headlining that an "Explosion rocks Tehran during Quds Day rally," showing the fraught public atmosphere around the leadership's limited appearances.

The scale and human cost of the strikes are emphasised in regional coverage: Al Jazeera reported that "At least 1,444 people have been killed and 18,551 injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since the war began late last month, according to the latest figures from Iran’s Health Ministry," and that Iran "says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked."

“Iran's new supreme leader 'likely disfigured', US defence chief says US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was wounded and "likely disfigured", casting doubt on his ability to lead after nearly two weeks of conflict”

France 24

France 24 situated Hegseth's injury claim within what it called "nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran,"

while NBC reported related U.S. military activity, headlining that "US Says It Hit 16 Iranian Mine-Laying Ships Near Strait of Hormuz," illustrating multiple facets of the campaign described by different outlets.

Observers and analysts highlighted the political framing of Hegseth's remarks and broader U.S. messaging: Al Jazeera quoted Mohamad Elmasry saying "Hegseth is clearly trying to project … confidence and success, trying to reassure the American citizenry," and that "so Hegseth and Trump are trying to project confidence" amid unpopular war sentiments and rising costs.

France 24 recorded Hegseth's own dismissive tone toward Tehran's public statements, quoting him: "We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement."

The Hill

NBC's coverage included broader U.S. political signals such as the headline "Trump Declares Victory in Iran, Insists US Must 'Finish the Job'," pointing to the administration's assertive rhetoric alongside Pentagon claims.

Significant contradictions and uncertainty remain: France 24 recorded an Iranian official saying Khamenei was "lightly injured but was continuing to operate," directly contradicting Hegseth's claim he was "wounded and likely disfigured."

“byFilip Timotija03/13/26 09:10 AM ET Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday morning that Iran’s new supreme leader is “wounded and likely disfigured,” confirming reports that Mojtaba Khamenei was injured early on in the U”

The Hill

The outlet also noted the oddity that "there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement," raising questions about what Iran has chosen to release publicly.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera's reporting that Iran "says thousands of civilian sites, such as schools and hospitals, have been attacked" and NBC's repeated framing of Hegseth's assertion underline the competing narratives; the available reporting shows clear disagreement between U.S. officials' characterisation and Iranian official statements, and leaves Khamenei's precise condition and the wider facts contested in open-source coverage.