Iran's New Leader Holed Up After Airstrike

0:00On April 23rd, Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Moshtabah Khamenei, has been out of sight since taking over in March, and reports say he's badly. Heard from the airstrike that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with his wife and another son, that strike hit their family compound in Tehran on February 28th, kicking off the conflict with U.S. and Israeli forces. He's holed up at some secret spot, surrounded by doctors treating his wounds with super-tight security, keeping even top IRGC commanders away. There. Scared Israel might track and hit them too. Iranian President Masood Pizeshkin, who's a heart surgeon and the health minister are helping with his care. Four senior officials say Mochitabah is still sharp mentally and tuned into decisions, but physically, one leg's had three surgeries and needs a prosthetic, his hands recovering from an operation, and burns on his face and lips make talking tough, whole knee plastic surgery soon. No video or audio from him yet, he doesn't want to look or sound weak in his first public word,

1:04so he's sticking to written statements read on state, TV. Messages 2 and from him go through handwritten notes passed by couriers on cars and motorcycles over back roads. Right now, battle-tested IRGC generals are calling the shots on war, security and talks, while Mochitabah signs off like a board director relying on. They're advised to steer the nation through this mess. From across the country, powered by AI, this is US News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.