It has been more than five months since Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei booked a well-deserved passage to hell courtesy of a US-Israeli airstrike in Tehran. Killed alongside the geriatric butcher were his daughter, a grandchild (sex not disclosed), his son-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Among the injured was Khamenei's eldest son – and, as it turned out, his heir – Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, who, according to Reuters, suffered severe and disfiguring facial injuries as well as a significant injury to one or both legs in the strike.
But where is he now? It's the question that has swirled around Iran's de facto Supreme Leader since he secured the job in those extraordinary circumstances on March 9. His tenure, thus far, has been notable for his absence.
Mojtaba made no public appearance after his appointment, which was perhaps understandable given that the Americans and Israelis were pounding the country and killing its leaders daily.
But he did not even release a pre-recorded video or audio. Instead, a state TV anchor read aloud a statement he had supposedly written, while a still photograph of the new Supreme Leader was displayed on screen.
