Iranian regime loyalists displayed a taped-together cardboard cutout of their new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in recent strikes and has not been seen since his elevation.
The makeshift stand-in appeared at a pro-regime rally in Tehran, where organizers brought the life-size cutout of Khamenei onto the stage, according to Israeli journalist Amit Segal. Regime loyalists hailed and swore allegiance to the cutout, which appeared crudely assembled and held together by strips of tape, Segal reported.
Khamenei has not appeared in public or issued a statement since being selected as Iran’s new supreme leader on Sunday following the death of his father, longtime leader Ali Khamenei, in the U.S.–Israeli strikes.
An Iranian official told Reuters Wednesday that Mojtaba Khamenei was "lightly injured" during the strikes, though the regime has offered few details about his condition while insisting he remains active behind the scenes. Reports indicate that Khamenei sustained injuries to his legs on the first day of the strikes.
Segal wrote that the injuries "must be quite serious if a cardboard ayatollah cuts a more commanding figure than a wheelchair-bound Khamenei."
President Donald Trump expressed frustration after Khamenei’s selection as supreme leader. He said he was "not happy" with the regime’s choice, but did not say whether the United States or Israel would try to strike Khamenei again. "I don’t believe he can live in peace," Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.
Trump said the results of Operation Epic Fury have been "way beyond expectation." The U.S. military has sunk more than 50 Iranian naval ships and hit more than 5,000 targets inside the country, dropping dozens of 2,000 pound GPS-guided bombs across the Islamic Republic, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Tuesday.
"We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force," Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Tuesday. "We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated."
