Trump says Iran's leadership decimated, Mojtaba 90% gone

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on Monday, July 13, that Iran's military leadership has been decimated and that the country's current Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is "90 gone." The remarks, made during a televised interview, came alongside an announcement that the United States is reinstating a blockade on Iran and will charge vessels for safe passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Trump asserted that recent U.S. and Israeli military actions have crippled Iran's armed forces. "They have no navy. They have no air force. It's all gone. Their antiaircraft is gone. Their leaders have all been killed," the president said. He also stated that the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed during strikes in late February, was "gone," and that his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, was "90 gone." Reports indicate Mojtaba Khamenei has been recovering from injuries sustained in an airstrike and was absent from funeral ceremonies for his father held in Iran and Iraq earlier this month.

The statements were delivered amid a weekend of renewed missile and drone exchanges between U.S. and Iranian forces, escalating a conflict that began months...