Trump Calls Mojtaba Khamenei ‘Irrelevant’ as Iran’s New Leader Fails to Appear in Public

President Donald Trump publicly dismissed Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei as irrelevant on Friday, pointing to his failure to appear in any video or audio format as proof that the leader had been physically neutralized by the ongoing strikes. Trump called Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags” and vowed that even harder strikes were coming, while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters in Washington that Khamenei had been wounded and likely disfigured in one of the attacks. The absence of any visual or audio communication from the new supreme leader was seized upon by US officials as a significant intelligence indicator.
Khamenei’s Thursday written statement had called for unity and pledged continued resistance, but without any accompanying voice recording or video image. Hegseth contrasted the written statement unfavorably with the public appearances of other senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was photographed walking in Tehran’s streets, and Ali Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, who was seen at a pro-government demonstration. The visible presence of some officials alongside the invisible presence of the supreme leader only deepened speculation about Khamenei’s condition.
The military campaign generating those conditions has been relentless in scale. Combined US and Israeli forces have struck over 15,000 targets since the conflict began. Israel alone confirmed more than 200 individual strikes in the most recent 24-hour window, targeting Iranian missile systems, weapons factories, and air defences. Trump announced the complete military obliteration of Kharg Island’s military installations in one of the most powerful raids in Middle Eastern history and threatened to strike the island’s oil infrastructure if Iran continued to disrupt Strait of Hormuz shipping.
The broader conflict continued to exact a heavy toll across the region. Lebanon has recorded over 600 deaths and 800,000 displaced, with eight more killed in Sidon Friday. Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, injuring about 60. Saudi Arabia intercepted close to 50 Iranian drones. Qatar ordered Doha evacuations before a missile interception. Two died in Oman in drone crashes. Dubai’s financial district sustained damage. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched new coordinated strikes on Israel with Hezbollah as part of al-Quds Day. Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths.
Tehran residents described a city of unceasing explosions, power failures, rubble, and dwindling fuel. A retired professor begged the world to intervene. A shopkeeper counted six explosions in one hour. The United States has lost 13 service members, including six in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq. France lost a soldier to a militia drone in Iraq. European governments sought diplomatic channels with Tehran for Strait of Hormuz shipping access. With Trump promising harder strikes and Iran showing no sign of capitulating, the war was expected to enter an even more destructive phase in the days ahead.