New ayatollah awaiting surgeries, prosthetic leg: NYT

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and new supreme leader of Iran, is reportedly set to receive a prosthetic leg and plastic surgery after he was wounded in a U.S. airstrike early in the war, the New York Times reported.

Khamenei has remained absent from the public eye since the start of the war and his election as leader, largely due to his injuries. The Times, citing "four senior Iranian officials familiar," indicated that he had received three operations on one leg and was awaiting a prosthetic. Severe burns on his face and lips, moreover, will require facial reconstruction surgery.

Though nominally the supreme leader of the country, his health and inability to address the public has reportedly allowed military hardliners advising him to exercise greater influence.

Khamenei has issued public statements, but largely written messages released via social media. At present, his grip on the country and ability to control the myriad factions in the government appears tenuous.

President Donald Trump on Thursday detailed what he perceived as an internal divide between "hardliners" and "moderates" in the Iranian government that was hampering negotiations.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the same day, denied Trump's characterization of the situation and touted what he called the "ironclad unity" of Iran.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.