Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei made his first big address to the Iranian public not in a video message or public appearance, but in a written statement read by state television broadcasters.
It’s a notable choice that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the threats to his life, according to a leading Iranian affairs expert.
“He obviously has to take extreme measures to protect himself physically,” said Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, a think tank in Washington. “He’s being hunted down, essentially.”
The health and current whereabouts of Khamenei are both unclear, after Iranian state TV previously indicated he had been wounded in the wave of U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed his father.
Vatanka added that the new supreme leader may not have been ready to face cameras.
“The reality is that this man was not necessarily prepared for this job. His father did not groom him in public for the role,” Vatanka said. “Because the first impression is so important, perhaps his advisers said, ‘You’re not ready for your moment in the limelight, there’s no need to rush it, and you can remain under the radar as long as you somehow communicate.'”
