“THEY’RE CALLING HIM THE AI SUPREME LEADER”

Sat 14 March 2026:

6 days into his reign, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard. His own government is circulating AI-generated videos of him giving speeches that never happened.

There is so little verified footage of the new leader that government news outlets and state-backed social media channels have resorted to circulating AI-generated videos of him to drum up support.

Videos depict the new leader delivering speeches to large crowds and standing beside his father at key moments – scenes that never actually occurred. Other AI pictures show the elder Khamenei passing on the mantle of the revolution to his son, or Mojtaba Khamenei embracing the slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

“They’re calling him the AI supreme leader,” one man in Tehran said mockingly.

⚡️JUST IN:

Iran released anime-style AI footage depicting the final moments of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei before his assassination and appointment of a new leader titled “Khamenei is back”. pic.twitter.com/G0PAZUZk3V

— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws1) March 12, 2026

A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN Mojtaba had suffered a fractured foot, a bruised left eye and minor lacerations to his face on the first day of the US and Israel’s bombardment campaign almost two weeks ago, the same wave of strikes that killed his father and Iran’s top military commanders.

De nieuwe opperleider van Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, kon om veiligheidsredenen niet persoonlijk bij het evenement aanwezig zijn. Daarom werd er een kartonnen afbeelding van hem neergezet.

En dit zijn echte beelden van de Iraanse staatstelevisie, geen AI. pic.twitter.com/gvonfwBf89

— Stephan (1) (@springfield1952) March 13, 2026

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s son, a government adviser, wrote later that Mojtaba was injured but in a safe place and doing well based on reports from those in the know. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is “likely disfigured” without providing any evidence, and Israel has previously indicated that any new supreme leader would be a target.

State-backed religious eulogists have used their pulpits to urge followers to pledge their allegiance, with influential cleric Mahmoud Karimi going so far as to declare that “it says enough about his character that no one has ever seen him,” framing Khamenei’s elusiveness not as vulnerability, but as virtue.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

For nearly four decades, Mojtaba Khamenei operated largely behind the scenes during his father’s rule, wielding influence but rarely appearing in public. Now thrust into the most powerful position in Iran during a military confrontation with the US and Israel, his continued invisibility underscores the changing nature of power in the Islamic Republic – where institutions and security bodies may matter more than the individual at the top.

Historian Arash Azizi says that the late Khamenei’s “iconic killing” has made for useful Shia imagery for the regime.

“They’ll naturally try to use the same themes around Mojtaba, whose status as son of a ‘martyred Imam’ who was wounded himself is similar to that of Shia saints from the Battle of Karbala,” said Azizi, who is a lecturer and historian at Yale University.

-Source: CNN

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22