Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the deceased Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is an elusive figure who has not been seen nor heard since he was appointed in March. Instead, a battle-hardened group of commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are the key decision makers on matters of security, war and diplomacy in Iran.
The New York Times reports, based on an interview with 23 people in Iran, that Mojtaba Khamenei is managing the country as the director of the board. The board is Iran’s generals.
Mojtaba Khamenei is surrounded by a team of doctors that is managing the grave injuries he received when American forces attacked the compound in which his father and other family members were killed. According to four senior Iranian officials, he is awaiting a prosthetic leg, is regaining function of one hand, and received severe burns to his face and lips, making it hard to speak.
Trump claims Iran doesn’t know who its’ leader is.
Meanwhile, Iran claims it has collected its first deposits from tolls it is charging ships in the Strait of Hormuz in defiance of Trump’s blockade.
The deputy speaker of Iran’s parliament, Hamidreza Haji Babaei, has said that the first tranche of tolls has been deposited into the Iranian central bank’s account, adding that how the funds are spent will be decided at a later time.
At the same time, the U.S. military has seized two sanctioned oil tankers it says is carrying Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. Trump also has ordered the Navy to “shoot and kill” any boat that is laying mines in the Strait.
It appears the U.S. and Iran are both trying to exert authority over shipping in the Strait during a ceasefire, with neither team intent on restarting peace talks.
But wait, there’s more. Hegseth has fired the Secretary of the Navy.
Navy Secretary John Phelan has been ousted by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over his plans for reform of the shipbuilding of the Navy. Multiple sources say Hegseth believed Phelan was moving too slowly on implementing shipbuilding reforms and was also irked by Phelan’s direct communication with Trump, which Hegseth viewed as an attempt to bypass him.