Israel rejects reports Khamenei fled Iran: ‘He is wounded and giving orders’

Israel rejects reports Khamenei fled Iran: ‘He is wounded and giving orders’

Itamar Eichner

A series of conflicting reports about the condition and whereabouts of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has raised questions over who is actually making decisions in Tehran and how much authority he exercises over the Islamic Republic.

The controversy began after Saudi broadcaster Al Hadath cited what it described as an Israeli security source claiming that Khamenei was no longer in Iran. The report, which was widely repeated in Israeli media, also alleged that statements and directives attributed to him were in fact being drafted by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ahmad Vahidi and other senior officials.

Israeli officials familiar with the intelligence reject that account.

According to information held by Israel, Khamenei is alive, wounded and remains inside Iran. One security official said he continues to issue instructions despite his injuries and that senior figures in Tehran are still awaiting his decisions.

“He is wounded, he is alive and he continues to give orders,” the official said. “In Iran, they are still waiting for his position and his instructions.”

Khamenei has not appeared in public since he was injured during the opening strike of Operation Lion’s Roar, in which his father, former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, was killed. Since then, all of his public statements have been issued in writing.

His prolonged absence has fueled speculation inside and outside Iran about whether he is physically capable of governing and whether the IRGC has effectively taken control of the state.

An Israeli security source said the lack of public appearances does not necessarily mean that Khamenei has lost all control. Rather, it may reflect intense concern that Israel could attempt to assassinate him again.

“He is not 100%,” the source said. “He is operating in a way that makes it extremely difficult to reach him, partly so that he does not expose his location.”

Another senior Israeli official described Khamenei as physically injured and politically weak.

“Mojtaba is in Iran,” the official said. “He is wounded and is a very weak figure who is being managed by Vahidi. They are deliberately building a sense of mystery around him, but the truth is that Vahidi writes everything for him. He is not really an important figure.”

Israeli defense officials believe the regime is deliberately concealing Khamenei’s location for security reasons. Still, they acknowledge that the pattern of written statements, no recorded voice and no public appearances conveys weakness and a lack of visible leadership at a highly sensitive moment for Iran.

Khamenei’s absence from his father’s funeral was viewed by Israeli officials as particularly unusual. Even if the decision was made for security reasons, they said, it suggested that there was a serious problem at the top of Iran’s leadership.

Reports have indicated that Mojtaba Khamenei suffered severe facial burns in the opening attack and has remained in a protected hiding place ever since.

In recent days, he issued a written statement apparently intended to calm tensions inside Iran following his father’s funeral. However, supporters of the hard-line camp demanded that he either show his face or allow the public to hear his voice.

He did neither.

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Europe's fires reveal deadly mix of record heat, human error, arson and land mismanagement

Europe's fires reveal deadly mix of record heat, human error, arson and land mismanagement

Simon Constable

Some observed the fires looked like a scene from Armageddon. The infernos destroyed buildings and forests alike, where the epic heat wave in Europe has hit record levels in many parts of the bloc. The heat has already led to thousands of deaths. However, the fires are not just due to the record heat.

Notably, last week, the famous Fontainebleau Forest near Paris was set alight, destroying 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of woodland. Approximately 1,000 people were evacuated, and 850 emergency firefighters were deployed — efforts to end the fire could take weeks.

The latest data from France's Ministry of Agriculture says nine out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. Often it's campfires, unextinguished cigarettes or similar negligence. That was exacerbated by the extreme heat this year in France and Spain, which in many cases turned scrub grassland into a tinderbox. It's also true that both countries have regulations that prohibit clearing of certain protected lands, according to information from each country. "Policies of nature restoration and building have made it hard in some cases to clear the brush that piles up," Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at Madrid-based investment company Tressis, told Fox News Digital.

The causes of fires in the U.S. are quite similar to those in France. According to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) and the U.S. Forest Service, 85% of fires are caused by people. However, the total wildfire burns in the U.S. from lightning-caused fires tends to burn more acreage because they often strike in remote, hard-to-reach areas. 

France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said experts found 10 points around a little more than half of a mile radius that were used for ignition, according to a report by France Insider. It also found that pattern "suggests a voluntary origin," the minister reportedly said.

France 24 reported that dozens of people have been arrested across the nation for either accidentally or deliberately starting fires. On a visit to the Fontainebleau forest last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said the country "has never faced so many outbreaks of fire across the country since the end of World War II." He added, according to the France 24 report, "Here, as everywhere else in France, there will be zero tolerance" for arsonists, "because it is, of course, our national territory that is under attack every time a fire breaks out."

Meanwhile, Spain has been dealing with three separate wildfires, one of which has been stopped. A fire in Zaragoza destroyed 12,000 hectares (29,653 acres) and resulted in the evacuation of six separate villages. Fires in Madrid and Guadalajara impacted at least 2,000 people. "The speed of these fires is something that even the most experienced firefighters are saying they have never seen anything like this," Lacalle told Fox News Digital.

A fire in the Spanish Andalusia region killed at least 13 people, including a 93-year-old woman who was injured in the fire at Los Gallardos.

Spain has vast areas of unused land with most of the population living in cities. "Some unused areas have not been cleaned up," Lacalle told Fox News Digital. "Because they have uncleared scrub land, there is a higher likelihood of a disastrous fire." That uncleared scrub that gets dried out by an extreme heat wave effectively creates a tinderbox that ignites quickly, even with a partially smoked cigarette.

The number of people exposed to wildfires has grown by an average of 382,700 per year during the period from 2002 to 2021, an increase of 40%, according to a study by the University of East Anglia in England. The study says, "This surge in human exposure was driven mainly by population growth and migration into fire-prone landscapes." Over the same period, the amount of land burned decreased by 26%, according to the UEA study. 

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Earthquake shakes Peru's Andes region, killing at least 5, displacing hundreds

Earthquake shakes Peru's Andes region, killing at least 5, displacing hundreds

Stephen Sorace

A powerful earthquake ripped through Peru's Andes region overnight, killing at least five people and leaving hundreds displaced as homes and a church collapsed, with authorities warning Sunday that an unknown number of people remain missing.

The magnitude 5.5 quake struck shortly after 9:20 p.m. Saturday near the city of Sicaya in central Peru, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake injured more than 20 people and forced at least 300 residents from their homes, Peru's National Civil Defense Institute said.

Officials were still trying to account for missing residents Sunday after several buildings collapsed or were left unsafe, including a local church and convent.

Authorities said the region's widespread use of traditional adobe construction likely made the damage worse. Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense office, said the rustic building materials "contributed to the greater impact and damage."

Images from the hard-hit farming community of Chongo Bajo showed families wrapped in blankets outside damaged homes as neighbors picked through the rubble. Animals could also be seen trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

"My home has been destroyed," resident Hermenegilda Guamalato told local radio while looking for shelter with her three children in the neighboring province of Huayucachi.

Israel On 'High Alert'

Israel on 'high alert' ahead of possible Iran campaign

Shirit Avitan Cohen

Amid the escalating confrontation between Iran and the United States, Israeli officials say Jerusalem and Washington are maintaining close coordination and direct contact.

"The Israel Defense Forces are on very high alert for every scenario. There will be no surprises," the officials said.

Israeli assessments indicate that as US strikes in Iran expand, and Iranian retaliation intensifies accordingly, the likelihood is growing that Israel will find itself drawn into the renewed campaign.

Three scenarios

According to the officials, Israel could find itself in the line of fire under three possible scenarios:

1. A direct Iranian attack on Israel.
2. Signs that Iran is preparing to attack Israel.
3. A formal US request for the IDF to join the campaign.

None of the three scenarios has materialized so far, and Israel is continuing to strengthen its preparations while remaining outside the fighting.

Senior officials in Jerusalem said continuous contact with Washington was taking place at every level and at all times, reflecting the "majority" of interests shared by the two countries.

However, when the countries' interests do not fully align, discussions are held in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on Israel's security requirements. One example, the officials said, was the continuation of IDF operations in Lebanon despite demands from the White House.

Now, however, with fighting in Iran resuming and appearing to be heading toward further escalation, Jerusalem has not yet received a signal from Washington to enter the campaign. As of publication, Iran also appears uninterested in deliberately drawing Israel into the conflict.

A further area of close coordination involves aviation. Israel and the United States are conducting daily assessments based on the operational needs of the US military following the renewed outbreak of fighting with Iran.

For now, under instructions issued by Transportation Minister Miri Regev, the large number of US aerial refueling aircraft that have returned to the region have been directed to Israeli Air Force bases around the country.

However, officials familiar with the matter said there was a tangible risk that numerous commercial flights could be canceled if the offensive expanded and the US military needed to increase its aircraft presence at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Netanyahu's planned trip to the United States next week to attend the funeral of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is also at risk of cancellation because of the regional security tensions.

Netanyahu hinted at that possibility during a meeting Sunday with Likud mayors, saying that if the security situation escalated, the party would not hold primaries ahead of the elections. Instead, a selection committee would be established to determine the makeup of the Likud candidate list.

The drone threat

Another Iranian threat troubling Israel's defense establishment is the possible use of drones launched from inside the country.

As reported over the weekend, Israel is considering a complete suspension of civilian drone flights and making the operation of a drone without authorization a criminal offense.

Although the use of drones against Israeli forces in Lebanon appears to have been largely curtailed, the primary concern is that all elements of the Iranian axis possess similar capabilities in areas very close to Israel's borders.

Dr. Yossi Mansharof, an Iran and Shiite militias researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and a lecturer in the University of Haifa's Middle East Politics master's program at the School of Political Sciences, told Hayom that "the level of the threat from Iran is extremely high."

He warned that the regime's capabilities should not be underestimated, as the Houthis' capabilities initially were. "Their technological capabilities improve as the years pass. They are not standing still, and that has to be taken into account," Mansharof said.

"If this device, the 'fiber drone,' is in Hezbollah's possession, it is probably held by the entire axis, particularly along the Jordanian border. The defense establishment therefore needs to maintain heightened vigilance.

"Given the nature of the threats, I would expect the Israeli Air Force to shorten its response time, unlike what we saw on Oct. 7."

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US hits Iranian command centers in ninth night of strikes as American death toll rises

US hits Iranian command centers in ninth night of strikes as American death toll rises

News Agencies

CENTCOM says the latest attacks targeted air defenses, coastal surveillance, maritime capabilities, missile and drone sites and communications networks as Iran reported strikes across several cities and the US military confirmed another death

The U.S. military completed its ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting military command centers, air defenses, coastal-surveillance sites, maritime capabilities and missile and drone infrastructure, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.

CENTCOM said the operation began at 10 p.m. ET on July 19 and also struck communications networks used by the Iranian military.

The command said the attacks were intended to degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial vessels and civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media reported explosions in several cities early Monday. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said U.S. missiles struck Tabriz, Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Mahshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini.

The latest attacks came as the number of confirmed U.S. military deaths in the renewed fighting rose to three.

The U.S. military said Sunday that a service member was killed Saturday in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian attack drone.

Two other U.S. service members were killed Friday in Jordan, while another was listed as missing. CENTCOM said unidentified remains had been found at the attack site and were undergoing examination.

The latest death brought the total number of U.S. military personnel killed since the war began to 17, with more than 420 others wounded.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had carried out a surprise strike against what it called the enemy’s special-operations headquarters in Syria’s Al-Tanf region.

Iranian state television also reported that Tehran had launched a drone attack on U.S. military assets at Kuwait’s Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al Salem Air Base. Both locations had already been targeted during attacks on U.S. forces and allies in the Gulf over the past week.

Kuwait said a desalination plant was struck for a second consecutive day, causing a fire. The government described the attack as a direct strike on vital civilian infrastructure.

Concerns over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz also intensified after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center received a report that a vessel was on fire near Oman’s coast. The cause had not been verified.

Oil prices rose 3% Monday, with Brent crude futures climbing above $90 a barrel, their highest level since June 11.

The attacks followed CENTCOM’s eighth consecutive wave of strikes, which targeted Iranian coastal-surveillance and air-defense facilities.

The United States and Iran have intensified their attacks as an interim ceasefire agreement signed a month ago has unraveled and the struggle over control of the Strait of Hormuz has deepened.

“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did it in honor of” the U.S. service members killed since Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters after returning from the World Cup final.

The U.S. Embassy in Bahrain also warned that it had information suggesting Iran could seek to target unspecified locations in central Manama and urged Americans to remain vigilant.