There have been multiple reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was killed in the early days of Operation Epic Fury. A Sunday CBS News report indicates otherwise, however, saying that he’s alive and holed up somewhere — and has to communicate with his minions with methods better suited to the 12th century.
The difficulty in communications is one reason why even minor details in the ceasefire deal the U.S. is trying to negotiate with what’s left of Iran’s leadership can stretch on for days.
It’s like watching a Keystone Cops TV show, officials say, according to the outlet:
UPDATE—CBS reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is hiding in a secret location, communicating only through a network of messengers to avoid assassination by Israel.
— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) May 25, 2026
US intelligence says even senior Iranian officials cannot contact him directly, causing major delays in… pic.twitter.com/ghsFNvvjZv
UPDATE—CBS reports Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is hiding in a secret location, communicating only through a network of messengers to avoid assassination by Israel.
US intelligence says even senior Iranian officials cannot contact him directly, causing major delays in US-Iran negotiations. Officials described the regime’s underground communications as chaotic and “almost like watching a sitcom.”
Mojtaba has been extremely cautious because he doesn’t want to end up like his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose life was abruptly ended by a joint U.S.–Israeli airstrike in February.
U.S. intelligence shows that Iran's supreme leader is effectively holed up in an undisclosed location with little access to the outside world and is only reached by a labyrinth of couriers, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter.
The Iranian officials authorized to work with the Trump administration have been having a difficult time communicating inside of their own government system — and it's a central reason why the details of a potential deal with Iran and past agreements have been slow to emerge.
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Mojtaba has not been seen or heard from in the almost three months since the U.S.-Israeli military action began. There have been statements attributed to him by senior officials, but there is no way to verify their authenticity. Numerous reports have indicated that he was badly injured — and possibly disfigured — in the airstrike that took out his father and a slew of other figures in the terroristic regime.
But almost no one seems to know exactly where he is:
The report said even senior Iranian government officials often do not know Khamenei's exact location and have no direct line of communication with him. Instead, messages are reportedly passed through trusted couriers to minimize the risk of detection.
"This is why you see people saying things like, The supreme leader has agreed to the framework, or We're waiting to hear back on the final deal points," one official told CBS News.
"Every piece of information he receives is dated and there's a lot of latency to his responses."
According to the report, Khamenei has communicated only broad negotiating parameters to subordinates, outlining which issues are open for discussion and which remain off limits as talks with the Trump administration continue.
The report went on to say that some of the leaders who are hiding out don’t see sunlight for weeks at a time. It would seem that they’re living like animals, which is appropriate considering what they’ve done to their country and their people.
Maybe he’s holed up in a cave watching Zero Dark Thirty. Like Osama bin Laden, Mojtaba may one day discover that you can run, but you can’t hide forever.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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