By Margherita Stancati and Benoit Faucon
In his first, fiery address to the Iranian nation on March 12, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to "avenge the blood of our martyrs" and to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed. That message of defiance wasn't delivered by Khamenei himself: It was read out on state television by a female news anchor.
Since then, the mystery surrounding Khamenei's whereabouts and well-being has only deepened. Khanenei hasn't appeared in public, nor has the Iranian government issued new images of him or even recordings of his voice.
The pictures that have been released often show Khamenei in clearly fictional scenes for propaganda purposes. Many photos of him appear to have been generated or modified by artificial intelligence, according to analysis by The Wall Street Journal and scholars of Iran's visual imagery.
They include the profile picture for his new X account, which is based on an archival photo of him that was modified by Google AI, according to an analysis by the Journal using Google's SynthID tool. Some Iranian embassies have yet to hang portraits of him even though images of Iran's supreme leader typically adorn most rooms.
Iranian government officials say Khamenei is alive and in control. Many Iranians, however, are increasingly asking: Is he wounded? Is he even alive?
Khamenei, 56, replaced his father, the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war by an Israeli airstrike on his compound. Several other family members were also killed, including Mojtaba Khamenei's wife, his sister and her young son. Mojtaba Khamenei was in the compound at the time of the attack and was wounded, according to Iranian, Israeli, U.S. and European officials. The question is how badly.
Tulsi Gabbard, the U.S. director of national intelligence, claimed earlier this week that Khamenei was injured very severely and that this was causing disarray in the Iranian leadership.
Still, the regime has managed to keep control of the streets and accurately strike targets across the Gulf, showing it remains capable of keeping up the fight.
Two Iranian officials privately said Khamenei was injured but denied he was incapacitated. They said he is hiding for security reasons.
Israel has systematically targeted and killed top Iranian political and security leaders with the goal of destabilizing the regime and encouraging its collapse.
Khamenei, in a statement attributed to him on Friday on the occasion of the Persian New Year, said that strategy won't work.
"This war took place with the illusion that if they martyred the head of the system and a number of influential military figures, it would create fear and despair in people," it said. "But you people provided a vast defense line as wide as the country," it said, addressing the Iranian public.
The statement, delivered by a voice-over announcer on state television, did little to dispel rumors about the leader's physical health.
Khamenei is high on Israel's kill list, and appearances increase the likelihood of being tracked and then targeted. Iran's national security chief, Ali Larijani, was killed in an Israeli airstrike days after he took part in a public rally in Tehran. Despite the risk, many Iranian officials have continued to appear on camera and are actively commenting on recent developments on social media while avoiding public areas. Not Khamenei.
His avoidance of the public eye is consistent with past behavior. He has eschewed avoided media appearances. He is known to have only ever given a single interview, in 2021, with the sole purpose of paying tribute to his late grandfather. There isn't much archival footage of him. In an apparent attempt to introduce him to the wider public, Iran's state media on Thursday released a grainy, undated video that shows Khamenei giving a religious lesson.
Iranians knew little about Khamenei before his elevation except that he was close to his father and that he played a role behind the scenes in the supreme leader's powerful office. That in itself sends a clear message, analysts said.
"He represents absolute continuity, regardless of how mysterious he may be," said Hamidreza Azizi, visiting fellow and Iran expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "For supporters of the regime, that is a positive thing. They can be convinced that the legacy of Ali Khamenei is continuing."
Opponents of the regime are mocking Khamenei's absence from public life. An AI-generated video showing regime supporters hailing a cardboard cutout of Khamenei went viral online. Some are now calling him the "cardboard ayatollah," while some are doubting he is even alive.
Iran's state propaganda machine is stepping in to fill the vacuum. Posters, billboards and biographical videos of the hidden leader reinforce the message of continuity between father and son.
In these images, Khamenei is often depicted alongside his father and Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's first supreme leader.
A massive billboard on display in northern Tehran shows Khamenei in his clerical robes standing in trenches, pointing at missiles being fired in the distance and surrounded by officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The image draws parallels between Khamenei, his father and Imam Ali, a figure who is deeply revered by Shia Muslims. The text that accompanies the image specifically references Imam Ali's victory in the battle of Khaybar, home to a historic Jewish community.
"There are two main messages being conveyed through these images. One is that he is following his father in fighting Western imperialism. The other is that he is the representative of God on Earth -- Vali Allah -- and a big fighter, like Ali," said Pedram Khosronejad, a professor at Western Sydney University and an expert on the visual anthropology of Iran.
"They are using visual symbols to educate Iranians at a time of uncertainty. They are saying: This is your leader. You may not have seen him, but this is who he is."
Write to Margherita Stancati at margherita.stancati@wsj.com and Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 21, 2026 11:22 ET (15:22 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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