Khamenei wife 'alive'; earlier death reports incorrect: Iranian media

Bagherzadeh alive despite previous death reports

Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, wife of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is alive, Iranian media reported on Thursday, dismissing earlier claims of her death, according to the Hindustan Times.

Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars News clarified that reports of her death were incorrect. The update came after Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, made his first statement on Thursday without mentioning his mother, suggesting she was unharmed.

Earlier, Iranian outlets had reported that Bagherzadeh, 79, had died from injuries sustained during the US-Israeli airstrike on Tehran that killed Khamenei, claiming she had been in a coma since Saturday.

Bagherzadeh and Khamenei married in 1964, and she largely stayed out of public view throughout their life together. Although little was known about her, she was one of the most private members of Iran’s ruling family and they had six children.

Khamenei, 86, was killed when his compound was struck in a coordinated US-Israeli attack early Saturday, with Iranian state media confirming his death on Sunday. Four other family members, including a daughter and a grandchild, also died in the strike.