Mojtaba Khamenei: Leaked audio claims new Iranian Supreme Leader escaped death by seconds

Leaked audio has levelled a stunning claim about how Iran’s new Supreme Leader survived the US-Israeli strike that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Mojtaba Khamenei is understood to have been injured in the strike, which saw Iran’s leadership decimated; however, the new leader, son of the former supreme leader, has not been seen or heard since.

The audio, which was reportedly captured while an aide to Ali Khamenei spoke to IRGC commanders, insists Mojtaba is indeed alive.

In audio obtained by UK publication The Telegraph, Mazaher Hosseini, the head of protocol for Ali Khamenei’s office, claims that Mojtaba had left the compound seconds before the fatal strike.

“God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return,” Mr Hosseini reportedly says in the audio.

“He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile.”

The recording also claims that Mojtaba’s wife and son died in the attack, which adds that Misbah al-Huda Bagheri Jani, his brother-in-law, was decapitated as a result of the strike.

The audio details three strikes that all hit the compound hosting Iran’s senior leaders in one location simultaneously.

“The missile was so powerful that it went downstairs where Mr Misbah was, it went to Mr Misbah’s room,” Mr Hosseini says in the audio.

“The missiles were struck in a way that cut his head in half.”

The bombshell audio comes as speculation grew that Mojtaba could already be dead. However, the latest updates suggest he is alive, but was badly injured in the strike.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said: “A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg, one leg, and he’s been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he’s dead.

Iran admits he was lightly injured but says he is “in good health and fully in control of the situation”.

But his injuries are in fact far worse, according to a source who told The Sun last week that he was in a coma after losing at least one leg and had also suffered serious stomach or liver damage. That information is unverified.

In a shock twist a Kuwaiti newspaper, Al-Jarida, has now reported the new ayatollah was secretly whisked out of Iran on a Russian military aircraft and taken to Moscow, where he underwent a “successful” operation at one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s presidential palaces.

He would return to Iran soon, it was reported.

Al-Jarida cites its information, also unverified, had come from a “high-ranking source close to the new Iranian Supreme Leader”.