Secretary Of State Marco Rubio Says Iran’s New Supreme Leader Is Still Alive

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has weighed in on whether Iran’s new Supreme Leader is alive.

While testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Marco Rubio shared that he believes Iran’s New Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive.

Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed as the new Supreme Leader of Iran after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed by the U.S. and Israel on February 28.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸🇮🇷 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there are indications that Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and becoming increasingly involved in decision-making. pic.twitter.com/DpJ8xAtz7a

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) June 2, 2026

The Washington Times provided the full scoop on Rubio’s latest remarks on Khamenei:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday he believes Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and “increasingly engaging at some level” in decision-making, even though he hasn’t appeared in public.

Iran’s regime appointed him as supreme leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

Mr. Rubio said Mojtaba Khamenei was likely badly injured in the same strikes that killed his father. However, the secretary said he thinks the son survived.

“We haven’t seen him publicly,” Mr. Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I would imagine, given what’s happened to multiple leaders in that system, being very public is probably not something that’s recommended for them internally.”

Mr. Rubio said the supreme leader is probably deeply involved in decision-making as Iran tries to negotiate an end to the war.

He said it’s hard for Americans to understand the supreme leader’s role, since it’s theological with no direct analogy in the U.S. system.

Iran’s leader is surrounded by a council that involves the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other top figures.

Watch Rubio make his remarks below:

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that there are “indications” that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive, following a strike early in the war that severely injured him. pic.twitter.com/VMGyChpxkd

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 2, 2026

Later in the hearing, Rubio gave an assessment of Iran’s military:

JUST IN: Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers a blunt assessment of Iran's military power, declaring that the regime's naval forces have been entirely eliminated.

Rubio mocked their remaining maritime assets and said their sunken ship are nothing more than soon-to-be… pic.twitter.com/LPXn3e5hOk

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 2, 2026

Rubio also shared during the hearing that Iran is ready to engage in negotiations regarding its nuclear program, per the Guardian:

Iran has agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it had refused to discuss even a month ago, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has claimed, even as Tehran announced it was halting peace talks and moving to fully close the strait of Hormuz.

Appearing before the Senate foreign relations committee for the first time since the Trump administration launched the war against Iran – which was pitched as a short, weeks-long war, in February – Rubio repeated the Trump administration’s claims that a deal was within reach.

He arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the morning after Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran would stop exchanging messages with Washington through intermediaries, pointing to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon as a ceasefire violation.

Donald Trump later claimed conversations “have been going on continuously” and insisted it was false to suggest officials had stopped speaking.

And Rubio insisted progress could be made soon. “There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week – that for the first time, certainly in my memory, they have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago” they said they would not, he told senators.

ADVERTISEMENT