Amputation Was Considered for Iran's Supreme Leader, Official Reveals

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - An Iranian official has publicly stated that the injuries sustained by Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during the opening days of the "Ramadan War" were severe enough that amputation of his leg was considered. The statement appears to differ from previous public accounts of his condition provided by Iranian authorities.

The disclosure was made by Seyyed Ahmad Khatami on Saturday, the representative for Kerman in the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for selecting the Supreme Leader. 

According to a report by the Mehr News Agency (MNA), Khatami addressed a gathering of political and cultural elites at the office of the Sirjan Friday Prayer Leader, where he provided unprecedented details about the physical condition of the 56-year-old leader.

"During the attack on the first day of the Ramadan War, he sustained a serious injury to his leg," Khatami told the gathering. "The injury was severe enough that the possibility of amputation was under consideration."

Khatami added that the intervention of dedicated medical staff ultimately prevented the amputation, concluding that Mojtaba Khamenei is now "in good health."

Yet, the admission that amputation was even considered stands in profound contradiction to the official narrative maintained by Tehran since February.

For months, the health of Mojtaba Khamenei has been the subject of intense international scrutiny and competing strategic narratives.

His capacity to govern has been questioned precisely as Iran navigates high-stakes ceasefire negotiations and a complex military standoff with the United States and Israel.

The leadership transition began on Feb. 28, during a devastating joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike on Tehran that killed the long-standing Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The attack also reportedly claimed the lives of several of his family members, including Mojtaba Khamenei's wife.

On March 8, the Assembly of Experts moved swiftly to project continuity, announcing the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader.

However, his total absence from public view, relying exclusively on written statements read by television anchors and an unverified, voiceless AI-generated video, immediately fueled rumors that he had been catastrophically injured in the same bombardment that killed his father.

As speculation mounted, the Iranian state apparatus launched a coordinated campaign to downplay the severity of his condition.

According to a previous Kurdistan24 report detailing Iranian Health Ministry disclosures, officials claimed the Supreme Leader was transferred to Sina Hospital following the strike to receive treatment for minor, superficial wounds.

Hossein Karmanpour, a senior Health Ministry official, explicitly denied international reports of severe trauma, stating that the medical intervention was limited to "a few stitches" on Khamenei's leg before he was discharged.

Read More: Iranian Health Ministry Releases New Details on Mojtaba Khamenei Injury

This narrative of minor injury was aggressively reinforced by the Supreme Leader's inner circle. According to another Kurdistan24 report, Mazaher Hosseini, a senior official in Khamenei's office, publicly declared the leader to be in "perfect health."

Hosseini claimed that Khamenei had merely been knocked down by a blast wave, resulting in slight injuries to his back and kneecap. He dismissed rumors of severe trauma as "nonsense" and categorized demands for visual proof of the leader's condition as a tactical maneuver by adversaries.

Read More: Iran Official Says Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Is in 'Perfect Health'

Validating Western Intelligence?

Khatami's sudden admission that the leg injury nearly required amputation appears to validate the grim assessments previously circulated by Western intelligence and international media.

According to previous reports, sources close to the Iranian leadership's inner circle told Reuters earlier this year that Khamenei had suffered extensive facial damage and significant injuries to his legs. In mid-March, U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly stated that the Iranian leader was "wounded and likely disfigured."

Read More: Iran's New Supreme Leader Reportedly 'Wounded'

Furthermore, a report by The Times, citing a diplomatic memo based on American and Israeli intelligence, suggested that Khamenei was severely incapacitated and receiving treatment in the holy city of Qom. The memo indicated he was "unable to be involved in any decision making by the regime."

Read More: Iran's New Supreme Leader Reportedly Incapacitated Following Airstrike, Times Report Suggests

The New York Times had similarly reported that he had undergone multiple surgeries on one leg and was awaiting a prosthetic limb, a detail that aligns strikingly with Khatami's new revelation about the near-amputation.