President Donald Trump said that he thinks new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father, the former supreme leader, was killed ​on the first day of the US and Israel’s war on Iran, is alive but “damaged.”Khamenei has not been seen ⁠by Iranians since his selection on Sunday by a clerical ​assembly, and his first comments were read out by a television ​presenter on Thursday. “I think he probably is (alive). I ​think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form, ‌you ⁠know,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”His remarks were published by Fox News late on Thursday. ​Iran ⁠has responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf countries with US bases. As the war approached the two-week mark, having ⁠killed thousands ​and shaken financial markets, the leaders ​of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and have vowed to ​fight on.

Source: Punch March 13, 2026 13:00 UTC