Hegseth says Iran’s Khamenei Jr 'wounded and likely disfigured'

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was “wounded and likely disfigured” as the United States and Israel intensify their military campaign against Iran, The Daily Baku reports, citing iranintl.com.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hegseth said Iran’s leadership was “desperate and hiding.”

“They’ve gone underground, cowering. That’s what rats do,” he said.

Hegseth added that US and Israeli forces had struck more than 15,000 targets across Iran and said the country’s air defenses, air force and navy had effectively been destroyed. He also said Iran’s ballistic missile production capacity had been “functionally defeated.”