Where is Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei?

Supreme leader missing from public eye raises alarm as Iran faces deadliest crisis

After 12 days of bombing each other's territory between Israel and Iran, and the US launching attacks on Tehran's nuclear sites, a ceasefire is holding, bringing tenuous peace to the region. As the crisis has settled, questions have arisen: where is Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader, a central figure who has guided the country through revolutions, sanctions, assassinations, and uprisings, has not been seen or heard from publicly for nearly a week since his last remarks earlier this week on the U.S. entering the conflict.

He has not commented on the ceasefire agreement “brokered” by US President Donald Trump.

The prolonged public absence of Ayatollah Khamenei has left many in Iran confused and deeply concerned, with no official update from the regime as the country struggles to recover from the recent Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear infrastructure.

He reportedly went into hiding two weeks ago in a secret bunker with his family, under the protection of the elite Vali-ye Amr unit of the Revolutionary Guards, according to a Reuters investigation citing five sources familiar with succession plans.

It is believed that Israeli agents have infiltrated various levels of the Khamenei regime and are waiting for orders to eliminate the Iran Supreme Leader, according to Times Now.

Is Khamenei okay?

The Iranian media is raising questions about the Supreme Leader’s whereabouts. The host of Iran’s state TV, earlier this week, posed a question to the regime on behalf of citizens of the country, asking, “People are very worried about the supreme leader. Can you tell us how he is?”

“Days-long absence has made all of us who love him very worried,” Mohsen Khalifeh, the editor-in-chief of Khaneman, a daily newspaper focused on real-estate development, said in an interview.

An official from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office replied to NYT, “We should all be praying. The people who are responsible for protecting the supreme leader are doing their job well. God willing, our people can celebrate victory next to their leader, God willing.”

Israel may still attempt to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei despite the ceasefire, prompting the enforcement of extreme security measures, including severely limited external contact, according to Hamzeh Safavi, political analyst and son of IRGC commander and top Khamenei adviser General Yahya Safavi.

“If we don’t see Khamenei by Ashura,” an important religious observance for Shiite Muslims in early July, “that is a bad sign. He has to show his face,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, according to NYT.

Who will lead Iran if Khamenei passes away? 

In the event of Ayatollah Khamenei’s death, reportedly Iran’s ruling establishment is prepared to swiftly appoint a new Supreme Leader to preserve national stability.

The leading contenders include his son Mojtaba, seen as a continuity figure, and Hassan Khomeini, the more moderate grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Reuters reports.

Khamenei himself has reportedly compiled a list of potential successors. The military chain of command has also been readied to ensure ongoing conflict operations continue without disruption if his "valued lieutenants" are killed.