Trump: If Ayatollah is dead, Iran ‘putting on a good show’

THE HILL-Aug26th2026

President Trump said Wednesday he does not believe Iran’s supreme leader is dead after a report suggested he could be deceased or brain-dead.

“He was very seriously wounded, but I don’t think he’s dead,” Trump said in an interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck.

“And if he is, they’re putting on a pretty good show because they talk about going back to talk to him all the time to get a final blessing on things,” he added.

A Tuesday report from The Atlantic cited sources in Tehran speculating that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was either dead or brain-dead. Others believed he was still alive.

Khamenei, the son of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was selected to be Iran’s new leader after his father was killed during Operation Epic Fury in February.

Direct talks between the U.S. and Iran remain stalled. Iran and Oman have continued to hold discussions on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran insists the U.S. must lift its naval blockade on the strait.

Trump told Beck that the strait is “functioning.”

“We take a lot of ships through the strait now. We’re taking them in,” he said. “The mines are gone.”

He said “every once in a while” a drone or rocket will be shot, “but it is a very functioning strait.”

Shipping trackers have reported an uptick in oil coming out of the waterway in recent weeks, but traffic remains far below prewar levels.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6052091-trump-responds-iran-leader-death-report/