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Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded

US President Donald Trump stated he believes the Iranian leader survived an assassination attempt and is seriously injured.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published

What this story says

  • US President Donald Trump stated he believes Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, is alive but seriously wounded.
  • Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since assuming leadership after his father's assassination.
  • Trump claimed the left side of Khamenei's body, including his arm and leg, was injured.
  • Trump also commented that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that mines have been cleared.

Who covered it

Left 5%(1)Centre 45%(10)Right 50%(11)

Percentages are shares of the 22 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 19 of the 41 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

59/100

Hype

41/100

41 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

Only 1 of the 22 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

US President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he believes Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive, though seriously wounded. Khamenei has not been seen publicly since he took over the leadership role after his father's assassination. Trump made these remarks in a telephonic interview with radio host Glenn Beck.

Trump described the injuries to Khamenei as affecting the left side of his body, including his arm and leg. He added that if Khamenei were not alive, Iran would be maintaining a very convincing facade. The Iranian leader has been absent from public view for six months, fueling speculation about his condition and whereabouts amid ongoing conflict.

Reports indicate that Iran's Fars news agency released an undated video purportedly showing Khamenei listening to a student present a thesis. Hindustan Times stated it could not independently verify the video's authenticity. Earlier reports had surfaced suggesting Khamenei was hospitalised and near death, and he also missed his father's funeral.

Trump also commented on the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that it is fully open and that mines have been cleared. He stated that many ships are now transiting the waterway.

Disagreement on details of injuries

While multiple reports state Trump claimed Khamenei was wounded on the left side of his body, including his arm and leg, some digests provide slightly different details. For instance, El Confidencial reports Trump saying the arm, leg, and 'whole side' were injured. Legit.ng reports Trump assessing Khamenei's health as 'very seriously wounded' without specifying body parts.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention Donald Trump's comments regarding the Strait of Hormuz. None of the right-rated digests mention the Fars news agency video or the inability of Hindustan Times to verify its authenticity.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 26 Aug 2026, 18:01, and will add the sides that appear.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

  • The left-rated report from Le Monde focused on Donald Trump's statement that he does not believe Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is dead. The report noted that Khamenei has not appeared publicly since February 28, the date of the bombings carried out by the United States and Israel during which his father was killed.

Centre

10 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports led with US President Donald Trump's assertion that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but seriously wounded. Hindustan Times, which provided a full report, included Trump's specific comments about the left side of Khamenei's body being injured, his belief that Iran would maintain a strong facade if the leader were deceased, and his statements about the Strait of Hormuz being open. Newsweek's digest highlighted Trump's claim that Khamenei survived, while also posing the question of whether the IRGC had turned him into a wartime puppet. El Periódico, informacion.es, laprovincia.es, and Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija all reported Trump's belief that Khamenei is alive despite serious injuries sustained during the February offensive. Jerusalem Post also quoted Trump stating he does not think Khamenei is dead and was very seriously wounded.

Right

11 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports from outlets including Libertad Digital, Clarin, Arutz Sheva, El Universo, Anadolu Ajansı, Le Figaro, and Daily Express focused on Donald Trump's statements that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but seriously wounded. Arutz Sheva and Anadolu Ajansı also included Trump's praise for US military operations and his prediction of a 'very big victory.' Clarin mentioned Trump's confirmation of the CIA director's visit to Moscow. Daily Express noted that the US President addressed the Iranian leader in hiding.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded?
Of the 22 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 5% are rated left, 45% are rated centre, 50% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 41. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 22 rated outlets on this story, 5% are rated left, 45% are rated centre, 50% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded biased?
Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded is one event reported by 41 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Trump says Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but wounded?
41 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did Donald Trump say about Mojtaba Khamenei's health?
Donald Trump stated he believes Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive but seriously wounded. He specified that the left side of Khamenei's body, including his arm and leg, was injured.
Has Mojtaba Khamenei been seen in public recently?
No, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since taking over as Supreme Leader following his father's assassination. This absence has fueled speculation about his condition and whereabouts.
What did Trump say about the Strait of Hormuz?
Donald Trump asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is open and that mines have been cleared. He stated that a significant number of ships are now transiting the waterway.

Read it at the source

41 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

1

Centre

10
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Right

11
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Not rated

19
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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