Hegseth: Khamenei is injured and probably disfigured

Iran's new leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded, probably disfigured and desperate, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on Friday, announcing another record day of attacks on Iran. Hegseth assured that “there is no need to worry” about the Strait of Hormuz because the US will not allow it to remain closed.

During Friday's press conference, Hegseth confirmed reports of wounds suffered by the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

– We know that the new, so-called, not quite supreme leader is injured and probably disfigured. Yesterday he issued a statement, actually weak, without voice and without recording, said the American Secretary of War.

He added that it is no secret why Khamenei issued a statement only in text form. – His father is dead, he is scared, injured, running away and has no ID. It's a disaster for them, he argued.

Hegseth portrayed the ongoing campaign against Iran as an undisputed triumph, claiming that the regime's military capabilities were “in decline.”

– They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. They are confused (…) We will press. We will push, we will move forward. No pardon, no mercy for our enemies, he said. He announced that Friday would be another record day in terms of bombing intensity, estimating that it would beat the previous record by 20%.

Hegseth said the US and Israel have hit 15,000 so far. targets, they are destroying Iran's arms industry, and the number of missiles launched by the regime in Tehran has decreased by 90% and drones by 95%.

⭕ LIVE: Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, gives first address since his appointment and the killing of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. https://t.co/ibiuNLe0Rq

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 12, 2026

Head of the Pentagon he also tried to calm concerns about the paralysis of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that “there is no need to worry about it.” He assured that U.S. forces would not allow the strait to remain closed, saying they had a range of options on how to do so, although he declined to name them.

Despite assurances of the operation's success, Hegseth repeatedly criticized the media, including reports that the Trump administration underestimated the risk of shutting down traffic through Hormuz.

– They (Iranians) always do this – they take the strait hostage. CNN doesn't think we thought of that. These are fundamentally unserious reports. The sooner David Ellison takes over this station, the better, he said, referring to the takeover of CNN's owner, Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, helmed by a Trump-friendly family.

Hegseth and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, noted that, contrary to media reports, there is no clear evidence yet that Iran has started mining the strait. They added that the attacks on tankers in the strait and the Persian Gulf were carried out using surface-to-surface missiles, not unmanned boats.

Pentagon officials confirmed that a KC-135 air tanker crashed in Iraq on Thursday, killing at least four crew members and that a search and rescue operation was underway to find the remaining two. Talking about other losses, including over 140 wounded soldiers, General Caine noted that 90 percent of them suffered only minor injuries and have already returned to service.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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