Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ridiculed Iran’s leadership Friday — claiming the theocracy’s “rat”-like executives had “gone underground” and that new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “likely disfigured.”
“Iran’s leadership is in no better shape, desperate and hiding. They’ve gone underground, cowering. That’s what rats do,” Hegseth jeered at a press conference.
“We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured,” he added.
The Secretary of War zeroed in on how Khamenei failed to appear in the flesh a day earlier as the 56-year-old’s first statement since being appointed as supreme leader was read out on Iranian state TV.
“He put our statement yesterday — a weak one, actually — but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth said.
“Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why?” he continued.
“His father dead, he’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy. It’s a mess for them. Who’s in charge?”
Khamenei has not been seen or heard from publicly since the US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28 killed his father, wife and other family members — leading to rampant speculation about his own whereabouts and health condition.
President Trump speculated Thursday that Khamenei was “probably alive” but may have been wounded during Operation Epic Fury after one source told The Sun the supreme leader was actually in a coma.
Hegseth didn’t elaborate on or give evidence about Khamenei’s condition during Friday’s briefing.
Experts have suggested Khamenei’s read-out message was a clear sign he is little more than a figurehead within the regime — and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remains the real center of power.
Meanwhile, Hegseth ripped the supreme leader’s statement calling for “unity” — despite vowing to avenge “the blood of your martyrs.”
“He called for unity, apparently killing tens of thousands of protesters is his kind of unity,” Hegseth said.
Although Hegseth had claimed Iran’s leaders had gone underground, videos posted online Friday showed many top leaders marching in Tehran for Quds Day, an annual pro-Palestinian event — including President Masoud Pezeshkian, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, national security adviser Ali Larijani and Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to Israeli, Turkish and Arab news outlets.
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