U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran's recently appointed supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured, and he questioned the leader's capacity to govern amid continued hostilities following nearly two weeks of strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces.
No new images of the supreme leader have been released since what U.S. officials describe as an Israeli strike at the outset of the conflict that killed much of his family, including his father and his wife. The supreme leader's first public comments since that strike were delivered in a written statement that state television had a presenter read on Thursday.
In that statement, the new supreme leader pledged to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and demanded neighboring countries expel U.S. bases or face the possibility of being targeted by Iran.
At a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth questioned why the leader's statement did not include audio or video, saying a written message alone was unusual given Iran's media capabilities. Hegseth said: "We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement."
He added: "Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father - dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy."
An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but remained operational, after state television described him as war-wounded.
Hegseth spoke alongside General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the briefing where U.S. officials highlighted recent U.S. military strikes intended to degrade Iran's missile and drone forces as well as its naval capabilities.
Despite those U.S. operations, additional Iranian drones were reported to have flown into neighboring countries, including Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman.
Separately, four U.S. service members were killed on Friday when a U.S. military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq. U.S. officials said the crash involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. Since the U.S. and Israel began conducting strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, a total of 11 U.S. troops have been killed.
Contextual note: The sequence of events described here reflects statements made by U.S. and Iranian officials and reports from state media. Where details remain limited, officials have offered differing characterizations of the supreme leader's physical condition.