(You can now subscribe to our(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channelIran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday posted a picture on X, from a meeting he had with Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani , amid ongoing speculation about his health.The 85-year-old Khamenei's post appeared to be an attempt at dismissing rumours that he was in a coma, which had circulated following reports of his deteriorating condition.Earlier media reports, including from The New York Times, had suggested that Khamenei was "seriously ill" and that he had secretly named his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor to the Iranian regime.Khamenei's office confirmed in a Persian statement that he had met with the Iranian ambassador to inquire about the latter's health. Amani was wounded in the Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon earlier this year.According to the official statement, Khamenei met with Amani to discuss the ambassador's latest health status.Amani, who was among the nearly 3,000 people injured in a September explosion involving Hezbollah in Lebanon, had traveled to Tehran to provide an update on his condition.The explosion, which killed at least 39 people, was blamed by Iran and Hezbollah on Israel.This comes after Khamenei's return to public speaking last month, when he delivered his first sermon in five years.In the October 5 sermon, he expressed strong support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant movements, the Hamas and Hezollah, declaring that Israel "won't last long. "Holding a gun, he justified recent Iranian missile strikes on Israeli infrastructure as a "public service" and reaffirmed Iran's backing of both Hamas and Hezbollah in their ongoing conflicts with Israel.

Source: International New York Times November 18, 2024 18:38 UTC