U.S. intel officials reportedly believe Iran's new supreme leader is 'probably gay'

A cardboard cutout of Mojtaba Khamenei.

According to a new report by The New York Post, U.S. intelligence officials briefed Trump in recent days to tell him that their official assessment of 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei is that the new supreme leader is likely gay.

Khamenei, the son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has yet to be seen publicly and has issued one public statement so far since being installed to succeed his father as supreme leader. At the succession ceremony, organizers marched out a crude cardboard cutout of Khamenei as a stand-in for the leader who couldn't be in attendance himself. 

On Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said at a press conference that the younger Khamenei was severely wounded in the same missile strike that killed his father. "We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured," Hegseth said, also suggesting that Khamenei should issue a video statement rather than a written on if indeed he's not hospitalized as a proof of life. 

The Post cited two anonymous sources within the U.S. intelligence community and another source close to the White House, reporting that Trump was surprised when he was given the briefing that Khamenei was "probably gay" and laughed when he heard that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doubted his son would be a suitable successor due to his sexual orientation. The sources emphasized to The Post that American spy agencies believe the claims are credible and that the younger Khamenei maintained a long-term sexual relationship with a childhood tutor. 

CBS News also reported the elder Khamenei had doubts about his son due to "issues in his personal life." Mojtaba Khamenei had a wife and son, but also reportedly faced fertility issues and made numerous visits to a clinic in the U.K. to have them addressed. 

Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, and those who are caught and convicted of engaging in same-sex activity can be imprisoned or face the death penalty. In some cases, Iran's theocratic rulers have conducted public hangings using construction cranes to make a spectacle and an example of those who are convicted. According to The Post, the government allows gay men to undergo sex change operations, an option many gay men pursue in order to avoid a run-in with the law there. 

Meanwhile, other reports suggest the new supreme leader lost a leg in the missile strike and was secretly secretly flown to Russia to undergo surgery.