Leaked audio revealed that new Iranian Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei survived the strike that killed his father due to a sudden decision to go outside.
The audio, obtained by the Telegraph, captured the words of Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for former Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office, who was briefing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders on what transpired around the assassination of the former supreme leader. In the first detailed account of what happened during the strike on the building, Hosseini claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei’s life had only been spared because he went outside to the compound’s garden.
“God’s will was that Mojtaba had to go out to the yard to do something and then return,” he said.
“He was outside and was heading upstairs when they struck the building with a missile. His wife, Ms. Haddad, was martyred instantly,” Hosseini added.
Despite the new supreme leader not being heard of directly since the strike, fueling widespread speculation that he was severely wounded, Hosseini claimed he only suffered “a minor injury to his leg.”
Many others in Khamenei’s family and circle weren’t so lucky. Hosseini divulged the gruesome fates of several top officials in the strike.
The chief of Khamenei’s military bureau, Mohammad Shirazi, suffered the worst fate, being directly targeted for his crucial role in succession planning.
“The enemy knew that, while hitting the supreme leader, hit him too because they knew he would replace those who had been killed, and when new [commanders] were introduced, they could get a chance to [influence] the rioters and infiltrators and do something,” Hosseini said.
“He was blown to pieces — they could find nothing from him, and at the end they found a few kilos of flesh and identified it as his body,” he added.
One of the Israeli missiles fired at the compound directly hit the room of Misbah al Huda Bagheri Kani, Mojtaba Khamenei’s brother-in-law.
“The missile was so powerful that it went downstairs where Mr. Misbah was, it went to Mr. Misbah’s room,” Hosseini said. “The missiles were struck in a way that cut his head in half.”
The opening strikes of Operation Roaring Lion and Operation Epic Fury killed dozens of senior Iranian leaders, going beyond the assassinations seen in the 12-day war to also target Iran’s political leadership, rather than solely military.
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Among those killed in the opening strikes were Ali Khamenei, Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, head of the Guard Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, and Iranian Armed Forces chief of staff Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s whereabouts remain unknown. His only supposed communication with the outside world was a written statement read on national television. President Donald Trump has openly suggested he is dead.