US President Donald Trump believes that Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive, but injured.
Trump said this in an interview with Fox News, according to the Reuters news agency.
Earlier this week, an unnamed Iranian official said that 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei had been slightly injured in an attack, but that the leader would continue his work.
- I think he's probably alive. I think he's damaged ("damaged", ed.), but I think he's probably alive in some way, you know, Trump said in the interview.
Has not appeared in public
According to Reuters, Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since he was appointed to the post on Sunday.
Instead, Iran's new leader issued a statement that was read out by a TV host on Iranian television on Thursday.
In the statement, Mojtaba Khamenei called on the United States to immediately close its military bases in the Middle East. At the same time, he warned that Iran would attack the bases.
Donald Trump has previously said that he demanded influence over who would become Iran's supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an attack just two weeks ago.
In this regard, Trump said that he could not accept that the ayatollah's son Mojtaba Khamenei was elected.
Revolutionary Guard claims to have taken control of the strait
On February 28, the United States and Israel launched the first military attacks on Iran. Trump said at the time that he would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles that could reach the United States.
Iran responded by attacking Israel and several American bases in countries in the Middle East.
The war has had major consequences for international air traffic and the supply of oil in large parts of the world in the past two weeks.
Around 20 percent of the world's oil passes by Iran's coast at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims that it has taken control of the strait, which means that shipping traffic has largely stopped.
Trump: There is nothing to be afraid of
Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, nevertheless encourages ships to sail through the strait.
The president mentions that Iran's navy is non-existent after US attacks.
- There is nothing to be afraid of. They have no navy, and we have sunk all their ships, says Donald Trump.
In a subsequent post on his social media, Truth Social, the US president writes that the US is winning the war.
- Iran's navy is gone, their air force no longer exists, missiles, drones and everything else is being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped off the face of the Earth, writes Trump.
/ritzau/
