Mojtaba Khamenei Missing From Public View for Months: Why CIA and Mossad Are Struggling To Track Iran’s Supreme Leader

American and Israeli intelligence agencies have launched a high-priority operation to locate Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has remained out of public view for nearly five months since taking over the country's top position. Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was appointed Supreme Leader on March 8, days after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a US-Israeli strike on Iran's leadership compound on February 28. Nearly five months into his tenure, the new leader has made no public appearances, delivered no televised or recorded speeches, and has maintained an unprecedented communications blackout, raising questions among foreign intelligence agencies about his whereabouts, health, and actual control over Iran's leadership.

Intelligence Agencies Struggle To Track Him

According to a report by The Times citing former intelligence officials, the CIA and Israel's Mossad are running a joint operation aimed not at eliminating Mojtaba but at confirming whether he is alive, establishing his location, and assessing his condition.

The agencies say he has avoided using a phone or a computer for roughly five months, forcing them to rely almost entirely on human intelligence rather than the cyber-surveillance tools that once helped track his father's movements through Tehran's traffic camera network. ‘Mojtaba Khamenei Is Gay’: Donald Trump Confirms CIA Briefed Him on Claims About Iran’s Supreme Leader (Watch Video).

Mojtaba is believed to communicate only through handwritten notes carried by a small, trusted network of couriers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with each intermediary reportedly aware of only a limited part of the chain. Intelligence estimates suggest only two or three Guard members may know how to reach him directly, making it extremely difficult for foreign agencies to intercept his communications or pin down his movements.

Underground Bunker And Body Double Theories Emerge

Analysts believe Mojtaba could be sheltering in a heavily fortified underground facility in Tehran or within a network of tunnels near the religious city of Qom. Some former intelligence officials have also raised the possibility that Iran is using body doubles to shield the new leader, drawing comparisons to tactics once used by former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

A former senior Mossad official was quoted as saying that Israel's approach draws on lessons from its hunt for hostages held in Gaza, where relying on technology alone had proved insufficient. Why Mojtaba Khamenei Did Not Attend Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Funeral.

Some assessments within the intelligence community reportedly go further, suggesting Mojtaba may already be dead and that the IRGC is maintaining the appearance of his continued leadership. US intelligence, however, has assessed that he is alive and functioning, though rumours persist that he suffered serious injuries, with the strike that killed his father described as involving multiple precision weapons that destroyed parts of the fortified compound housing Iran's top leadership.

Silence Deepens Questions Over His Condition

Questions around Mojtaba's health and whereabouts intensified after he skipped Iran's traditional Nowruz New Year address in March, issuing only a brief written message on Telegram instead of following his father's custom of a televised speech.

Despite the absence of any video or audio statement from him, posts have periodically appeared on social media platform X under his name, including wartime statements issued through Iranian state channels. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said he met the Supreme Leader personally and described him as being in good health, but Western intelligence agencies remain uncertain about the timing and circumstances of those meetings and continue to treat the claims with scepticism.

IRGC Gains Influence Amid Leadership Vacuum

Mojtaba's continued absence comes as Iran faces ongoing geopolitical tensions following a fragile ceasefire and renewed clashes linked to nuclear infrastructure and shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

His rise to power was reportedly backed by the IRGC, and he is widely viewed as more hardline than his father. With the Supreme Leader operating away from public view, the IRGC has taken on a larger role in military decisions and domestic security operations, a shift that has raised concerns in Washington and Tel Aviv over who is actually directing Iran's strategic choices.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2026 06:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).