‘Mojtaba Khamenei is 90% gone’: Trump makes big claim as US-Iran conflict spirals out of control

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has asserted that Iran’s top military leadership has been eliminated, claiming that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is “90 per cent gone” as Washington and Tehran exchanged renewed strikes over the weekend

The declaration coincided with an announcement that Washington intends to re-establish a maritime blockade on Iran and levy fees on vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz to guarantee safe transit, a move that triggered an immediate and sharp retaliation from Tehran.

Elaborating on the situation during an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump stated that recent coordinated military strikes by the US and Israel had completely shattered Iran’s defensive infrastructure. “They have no navy. They have no air force. It’s all gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Their leaders have all been killed,” Trump said during the broadcast.

ترامپ درباره ایران: خمینی از بین رفته است. پسرش هم ۹۰ درصد از بین رفته.

منظورش خامنه‌ای است! pic.twitter.com/t7dCcUkwok

— Maryam Rahmati (@maryam_rahmati) July 13, 2026

Detailing the extent of the leadership vacuum in Tehran, the US President noted that the country’s most prominent strategic commanders had been neutralised during the operations. “Their best leaders have been killed. They’re gone. Khomeini is gone,” Trump stated, in an apparent reference to Ali Khamenei, who was killed in late February during the initial wave of US-Israeli aerial bombardment against Iran.

The US President further alleged that Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been widely projected as his late father’s successor, had also been incapacitated during the military campaign, describing him as being “90 per cent gone”.

The younger Khamenei is reportedly recuperating from severe wounds suffered in a previous airstrike and was noticeably absent from the high-profile funeral ceremonies held across Iran and Iraq earlier this month. These developments emerged immediately after Washington and Tehran engaged in a fresh exchange of missile strikes over the weekend, a flare-up that has pushed regional volatility to unprecedented levels.

Compounding the military pressure, Trump declared that Washington would actively enforce an “Iranian blockade” while simultaneously mandating that commercial shipping lines compensate the US for securing the strategic waterway.

The policy shift was initially outlined by Trump in a statement posted on Truth Social, where he proclaimed that the US military would assume the mantle of the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait”.

“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” Trump wrote on the platform.

He argued that international trading partners utilising the vital maritime corridor must share the financial burden of American security operations, proposing a 20 per cent reimbursement tariff levied against the value of all cargo moving through the route.

Responding to the unilateral proposal, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected Trump’s fiscal demands, countering that Tehran, rather than Washington, holds the historical and legal mandate to secure the waterway. “Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is, of course, too much. We will be fair,” Araghchi stated in a swift rebuttal published on social media.

The hostile rhetorical exchange underscores a rapidly deteriorating standoff between Washington and Tehran, with both capitals asserting rival claims over the administration and protection of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point essential to global energy supply networks, as active military operations expand across the Gulf. (ANI)