Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Coma After ‘Serious Illness’? Fact-check claim

Students hold a poster of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at an annual demonstration outside the former US embassy in Tehran.

Photo: AP

Several social media posts appeared Saturday claiming that Iran‘s top manager Ayatollah Ali Khamenei85, is in a coma. The claims began going viral on social media on the heels of a New York Times report earlier in October that Ali Khamenei is “seriously ill.” However, there is no official word from any sources about further deterioration of the Ayatollah’s health.

Jason Brodsky, Policy Director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and a non-resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute, dismissed the claims and said they are most likely false. He added that Ali Khamenei was last seen on November 7.

“Tweets about how #Iran’s regime’s top leader is in a coma or even dead are all over my timeline,” he wrote. “There is not a credible news outlet that has reported as such. So be careful what you post. Khamenei was last seen in public on November 7.”

The New York Times report, published on October 27, claimed that Khamenei is suffering from a serious medical condition and is believed to be “gravely ill”. The report went so far as to claim that Ali Khamenei’s eldest son, Mojtaba Khamenei, would succeed him.

Despite there being no reports of further deterioration in Ali Khamenei’s health, claims emerged on social media that the 85-year-old is in a coma. Here are some of such posts:

Pictures of Ali Khamenei in a hospital bed also emerged, adding to rumors that he was in a coma. However, these images have also been debunked as of 2014.

The NYT report that Ali Khamenei was “seriously ill” came shortly after Israel carried out a precision military strike on several Iranian military targets. The Israel Defense Forces said the attack was carried out in response to the Iranian missile attack on Israel on October 1.