Iran: Supreme Leader Khamenei 'Gravely Ill"

[Emit]

I wonder what impact this will have on things -- I know that a few weeks back, Michael Ledeen was reporting that Khamenei was dead, and then took some heat for it in this Salon interview. I always try to keep up with what he and a few other neocons are writing about these days.

IRAN: SUPREME LEADER 'GRAVELY ILL'

Tehran, 2 Jan. (AKI) - Iran's top spiritual and political figure, Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is seriously ill and will have to be replaced in the coming months as he is no longer capable of holding office, according to Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Nasseri. The powerful clerical body appoints and oversees the country's supreme leader. "Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is gravely ill - he can no longer see very well, has difficulty hearing, and is no longer able to properly perform his duties," Nasseri told a women's group.

Iranians have speculated for sometime about Khamenei's health. But talk of the 67 year-old Khamenei's health is taboo and officials have denied he is seriously ill, although United States sources had previously said Khamenei had cancer. He is widely regarded as the figurehead of the country's conservative establishment. The survivor of an assassination attempt, his supporters call him a "living martyr."

The country's supreme leader since 1989, Khamenei succeeded the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, as president in 1981 and served two terms. His death or removal from office by the Assembly of Experts will trigger a power struggle within Iran's clergy, according to observers.

The names of three possible successors to Khamenei are currently on the lips of Iranians: Khamenei's son, Mjtaba; Iran's former reformist president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani; and Gholam Ali Mesbah Yazdi, the ultra-conservative ayatollah who is considered the spiritual father of Iran's current hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

(Raf/Rar/Aki)
Jan-02-07 18:45

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Politics&loid=8.0.372791808&par=0

edited: spelling

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. first anna nicole, now her secret lover and father of her child, Khameni

Don't these things come in threes?

[northzax]

2. at least this one is sourced

it may be bullshit, but it is sourced. unlike Ledeen's

[Eugene]

3. Note the date. This story is from January 2.

This report was repeated at numerous right-wing sites, including the Freak Republic.
Ayatollah Khamenei has been active since then, especially with the nuclear confrontation
and the Ahmadinejad power struggle.

Some recent DU threads:
Iranian leader threatens broad retaliation if attacked
Ayatollah: even Bush can be brought to his senses

[Emit]

4. That makes is all the more curious. Thanks for the links.

Here's pic date 2/0/07 --



And from the other article:

In his talk today, Khamenei also addressed rumors about his health -- a subject that is rarely discussed openly in Iran. Last month, there was speculation his health had deteriorated seriously.

"Enemies of the Islamic system fabricated various rumors about death and health to demoralize the Iranian nation, but they did not know that they are not dealing with only one person in Iran. They are facing a nation," Khamenei said.

And here's what Ledeen said in that Salon interview 1/15/07:

The recent story that you put up on your blog on the conservative Web site Pajamas Media, saying the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead -- what do you think about that now?

What I said on my blog, which is agnostic. There's people who think he's dead; there's people who think he's alive. I haven't seen anything to show that he's alive. On the other hand, I also don't have convincing confirmation that he's dead.

But you ran a story that said he was dead. There seems to be photographic evidence that he's alive.

I had the story from what I thought was a good source, and then I and everybody else at Pajamas followed it as closely as we could and put up every conflicting claim and every bit of conflicting evidence, tried to be as honest and forthcoming about that story as anybody possibly could.

Do you think it's a black mark on your record, on Pajamas' record?

Why? To tell the truth about what I was told and then to put up all the evidence as it came in? No. I think it's exactly the way news organizations should perform: They should say, "We've been told this," and then they should stay on top of it. Do you prefer the New York Times waiting three months to tell their readers that their story about a woman being imprisoned for life in Central America for abortion was false, even though they knew it all along? I think we did a terrific job ... In the case of the Khamenei story right now, I don't know what the truth is. I've said that. But I'm trying to follow the story as closely as I can. I'm totally unconvinced by the so-called evidence from the Iranians that he's alive. I mean, the films could have been doctored, the photographs are clearly -- some of the photographs are clearly old photographs. What I am sure of is that if he isn't dead, he's in terrible physical condition and that the power struggle for succession to Khamenei is well under way. That's for sure.