Hegseth: US-Israel strikes hit 15,000+ targets and injured new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
·Washington D.C. / Tehran, Iran
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that joint US-Israeli military strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets, NPR reported. Hegseth also claimed the strikes had injured Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — framing a written statement Khamenei released via Iranian state TV as evidence he was 'desperate,' 'scared' and 'injured.' If confirmed, Khamenei's injury would make the sitting supreme leader of Iran a direct casualty of the US-Israeli campaign and significantly alter the conflict's political dynamics inside Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Friday that joint US-Israeli military strikes had hit more than 15,000 targets since the campaign began on February 28, NPR reported. The figure is significantly higher than the IDF's own announcement of 7,600 strikes in Iran and 1,100 in Lebanon on Day 15 — Hegseth's count likely encompasses a broader definition of 'targets,' potentially including infrastructure, command nodes, and sites in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, or counting individual strike sorties differently.
More significantly, Hegseth claimed the strikes had injured Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Hegseth made the claim in the context of responding to a written statement that Mojtaba released via Iranian state TV on Thursday — described as the new supreme leader's first formal communication. Hegseth called the written statement 'evidence that the leader is desperate, scared and injured,' suggesting the US had intelligence confirming physical injury to the supreme leader.
Iranian state TV did not confirm or deny Mojtaba Khamenei's injuries. The use of a written statement rather than a video address is consistent with either physical injury preventing public appearance or a security protocol preventing visual identification of the supreme leader's location.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the slain Ali Khamenei, was elevated to supreme leader on the opening day of the war after his father's killing in the February 28 strikes. If he is genuinely injured, it would mean the US-Israeli campaign has wounded the sitting head of state of Iran — a development without precedent in the modern era and one that could accelerate Iranian decision-making toward either capitulation or maximum escalation.
Joint US-Israeli strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets. The new Iranian supreme leader appears desperate, scared and injured. Iran is losing. The military campaign is achieving its objectives.
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic is in full command and leading the resistance. American claims about his condition are psychological warfare. The Islamic Republic will not be intimidated by disinformation.
The Supreme Leader is healthy and commanding our operations. Hegseth's claims are fantasy. The IRGC operates under clear leadership and our resolve is undiminished.
Russia is gravely concerned by reports that the head of state of a sovereign nation may have been injured in military strikes. The targeting of a nation's supreme leader raises serious questions about the limits of this conflict and its conformity with international law.