Mojtaba Khamenei thanks Iraq for support days after Trump's 'we don't know if he is living' claim

Mojtaba's absence has triggered speculation about his health and whereabouts. However, state television and some Iranian officials have indicated that he is recovering from injuries.

As the US–Israel military campaign against Iran enters its second month, Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, in a written message, thanked the people of Iraq for their support in the conflict, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

In the message, Khamenei "expressed his appreciation to the supreme religious authority (in Iraq) and the people of Iraq for their clear stance against aggression against Iran and their support for our country", the ISNA news agency reported, referring to Iraq-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the most respected figures in Shia Islam.

The report added that the message followed a meeting between the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shia political party, and Iran’s ambassador in Baghdad, though no details were provided on how it was conveyed, according to AFP.

The son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28, Mojtaba has yet to make a public appearance since taking charge and has issued only a few written statements so far.

His continued absence has triggered speculation about his health and whereabouts. However, state television and some Iranian officials have indicated that he is recovering from injuries.

Mojtaba's statement came days after US President Donald Trump said that Washington was engaging with a "top person" in talks with Iran but clarified it was not the supreme leader. "We have not heard from the son... We don't know if he is living," he said.

(With agency inputs)