The hunt for Khamenei: how CIA and Mossad are trying to trace Mojtaba

As Trump weighs up his next move on Iran, the search intensifies for the country’s elusive new supreme leader who hasn’t been seen since February.

The CIA and Mossad are intensifying efforts to trace Mojtaba Khamenei, who became supreme leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, according to a report citing former intelligence officials and experts.

Mojtaba has not appeared publicly since taking office and was absent from his father’s funeral, although official wartime statements have been issued in his name. Unconfirmed assessments suggest he may be hiding in a deep underground facility and may have suffered facial injuries in the strike that killed his father. There is no independent confirmation of his location or health.

With Mojtaba believed to have stopped using electronic communications, investigators are focusing on human intelligence, particularly couriers carrying messages through several layers of intermediaries.