Iran, media: “Mojtaba Khamenei escaped death because he went out into the garden”

Milan, Mar 16 (LaPresse) – Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, narrowly survived an Israeli airstrike on February 28 after leaving his residence just moments before missiles struck the complex. This emerges from a leaked audio obtained by the Telegraph. The recording allegedly contains statements by Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol in the office of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, made during a March 12 meeting in Tehran with senior clerics and commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to Hosseini, Mojtaba had gone out into the garden of the complex shortly before Israel hit the residence at 9:32 a.m. local time. The February 28 attack killed several senior officials, including Ali Khamenei and other members of Iran’s leadership. “It was God’s will that Mojtaba had to go out into the garden to do something and then return,” Hosseini says in the Farsi recording. “He was outside and climbing the stairs when they hit the building with a missile.” According to Hosseini, Mojtaba Khamenei sustained only “a minor leg injury” in the attack. His wife, son, and brother-in-law were killed in the strike. Mostafa Khamenei, another son of Ali Khamenei, was reportedly “nearby” at the time of the attack but managed to escape with his wife unharmed.