US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he believes Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is still alive despite earlier claims that he was killed in Israeli-US strikes in February.
Trump made the claim during an interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck.
“I don’t think he’s dead. He was very seriously wounded. The left side of his body, the arm, the leg, the whole thing. He was very seriously wounded. But I don’t think he’s dead,” Trump said.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier declared Khamenei dead following Israel and the United States’ unprecedented military strikes against Iran in February.
At the time, Trump described Khamenei as “one of the most evil people in History” and announced on his Truth Social platform that the Iranian leader was dead.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump said.
Netanyahu also claimed that Khamenei had been killed during the attack, saying the compound of the Iranian leader had been destroyed in Tehran.
“This morning, in a powerful surprise strike, the compound of the tyrant Ali Khamenei was destroyed in the heart of Tehran… and there are many signs that this tyrant is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
The strikes triggered a missile barrage from Tehran, sending people seeking shelter across several cities in the Middle East.
Trump’s latest comments therefore mark a significant shift from his earlier assertion that Khamenei had been killed in the February attacks.