Donald Trump says Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is 'alive in some form' but 'damaged'

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he thinks Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “alive but damaged,” despite not having made any public appearance since taking office.

Khamenei was selected to be supreme leader on Sunday by a clerical ​assembly, and his first comments were read out by a television ​presenter on Thursday.

"I think he probably is. I think he is damaged, but I think he's probably alive in some form, you know," Trump said, speaking to the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio. The interview was recorded on Thursday and aired on Friday morning.

Trump's remarks came after a US media report claimed that Mojtaba Khamenei was injured along with his father amid the ongoing West Asia conflict on February 28 and was possibly in a coma.

Reuters quoted an Iranian official who informed the publication that the supreme leader was lightly injured but was continuing to operate, after ​state television informed that he was wounded. 

In his first comments, Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of ​Hormuz closed and ​called on ⁠neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or to risk being targeted by Iran.

The US-​Israel led military campaign on Iran began on February 28 and since then ​Iran ⁠has responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf countries along with US bases.