A message attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since being gravely wounded on 28 March, has been broadcast by Iranian state television. The regime's credibility problem is hiding in plain sight.
Mojtaba Khamenei © Mena Today
Iranian state television broadcast a remarkable message Thursday, attributed to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, declaring that the United States had suffered a "humiliating defeat" two months into the war triggered by the joint Israeli-American offensive against Iran.
There is just one problem. Khamenei has not been seen in public since 28 March. No image, no appearance, no verifiable proof of life. Sources close to the Iranian leadership suggest he was gravely wounded in the strikes. Some go further.
Yet according to Tehran, this same man - unable to show his face to the world - somehow found the strength to craft a polished political statement declaring that "a new chapter opens for the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz."
The message itself is a masterpiece of creative fiction. The United States, which deployed two carrier strike groups, tens of thousands of troops and dozens of combat aircraft to the region, has apparently been humiliated. Iran, whose supreme leader is missing, whose economy Donald Trump describes as being in "a state of collapse," and whose military has been severely degraded, has apparently won.
The regime is not speaking to Washington or Jerusalem. It is speaking to its own population, and hoping they still believe it.
Increasingly, that is a very big ask.
Yemen's Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that all Saudi oil and other vital facilities would be targets for the group's missiles and drones if Riyadh escalated its involvement in the conflict.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told parliament Thursday that the "ill-fated" framework agreement signed on June 26 between Lebanon and Israel was "doomed to fail," insisting "the Zionists will not be able to impose its implementation" and that "our people will thwart its effects on the ground."
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said some members of the Israeli government had tried to influence U.S. public opinion to oppose a deal by the U.S. to end the war with Iran, in a podcast episode with host Joe Rogan posted on Wednesday.
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