Another official denial: Khamenei not dead
Rumors on death of Iran's spiritual leader fail to die down. Iranian Foreign Ministry issues official denial following publications. Khamenei scheduled to meet with leader in Tehran on Monday
The spokesman, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, added that 67-year-old Khamenei was in good health and "we wish him a long life."
In spite of the official denial by the Foreign Ministry and Iran's UN ambassador over the weekend, American researcher Michael Ledeen, who was the first to report of Khamenei's death, continued to insist in his blog that "(Khamenei's) continued absence from all official events suggests that the source may be right."
According to Ledeen, the most significant proof is that Khamenei failed to deliver his sermon last week in honor of the Hajj, and instead issued a written statement.
The last time Khamenei was seen in public was at the end of December, when he visited special forces at Tehran's military academy. On Monday he is scheduled to meet with a group of senior government officials in the Iranian capital.
'There is no way to know if this is true'
Ledeen claims that if Khamenei fails to show up in public on Monday as well, his source should be nominated for "leaker of the year."
However, Ledeen admitted in his blog's talkback mechanism that he was ready for the possibility that his source was wrong, saying that "it happens."
Amir Taheri, the chief reporters of the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, also referred to the rumors on Khamenei's death, saying that "there is no way to know if this is true."
Practically all media outlets in Iran are closely supervised by the regime and have yet to deny the report. The only website which responded to the rumors was Baztab, which is owned by Mohsen Razaee, the secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, and which claimed that the report was "an Israeli conspiracy."
Iran's supreme leader has the final word in any issue involving the way the country is run and he is directly and indirectly involved in any important decision.
If the Iranian supreme leader is indeed dead, the Council of Experts, a body comprised of 86 clerics, will elect one of its members as the new leader. Under such circumstances, internal struggles may erupt between the clerics in Iran, and this may undermine the Iranian regime.
