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The image posted on Khamenei’s X account shows him in his office talking to Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon on Sunday. (Image: X/@Khamenei_fa)
Amid reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seriously ill, the Iranian Supreme Leader on Sunday published a picture of himself meeting an Iranian ambassador. The picture attracted huge attention as it was posted amid widespread unsourced reports on social media that he was in a coma.
The image posted on Khamenei’s X account shows him in his office talking to Iran’s Ambassador Mojtaba Amani in Lebanon. Notably, Amani was injured in Beirut in Israel’s September pager attacks against the Hezbollah terror group.
“Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, met and talked with Mr Mojtaba Amani, the veteran ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lebanon, at noon today, on the sidelines of his daily meetings,” the post read.
Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was among nearly 3,000 people who were injured when pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group exploded in Lebanon in September.
Notably, the picture came amid multiple media reports recently claiming that the 85-year-old leader was ill and had, therefore, nominated his 55-year-old son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor in a secret meeting. Meanwhile, several speculative reports suggested that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has slipped into coma.
Khamenei’s First Public Sermon In 5 Years
In October, amid rising tensions with Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his first sermon in five years after Iran launched 180 missiles targeting crucial infrastructure in Israel.
Holding a gun while speaking, the Iran leader declared that Israel would not prevail against Hamas or Hezbollah. In his speech, he also praised Hassan Nasrallah, the former chief of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.