Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "wounded and probably disfigured". This was stated by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett, quoted by "Independent".
Khamenei was injured at the beginning of the war, but it is not clear how seriously. Yesterday, Iranian state television read a statement that it claimed was from him, but he has not been seen in public since he was chosen to replace his father, who was killed in US-Israeli air strikes at the beginning of the war.
The US Secretary of Defense pointed out: "There was no voice and no video. It was a written statement in which he called for unity. Apparently killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of community. Iran has a lot of cameras and a lot of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father is dead, he's scared. He's wounded." Hegseth stressed that the Iranian regime would only see the Stars and Stripes of the United States and the Star of David of Israel, which he described as "its worst nightmare." Separately, the defense minister said that Iran's missile production had decreased by 90 percent and its kamikaze drones by 95 percent in the past day. Iran does not have the capability to produce more weapons, he added. The United States is "coping" with Iran's attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, and that's something they don't have to worry about, Hegseth said.
"Their production lines, their military plants, their defense innovation centers have been defeated. Iran's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate, they've gone into hiding, cowering - that's what rats do," he summed up.