US President Donald Trump considers the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to be a 'rumor,' although he told NBC that 'no one' has been able to prove he is alive, after he issued a written message to the country this week in which only his photo was shown. 'I don't even know if he's alive. So far, nobody has been able to prove it,' the president said during a 30-minute telephone interview on Saturday. Trump insisted that he had heard that Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Khamenei, 'is not alive,' but then pointed out that 'if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that is to surrender.' However, the president called the news of his death a 'rumor.' US Secretary of War, Peter Hegseth, assured during a press conference on Friday that Khamenei had been injured and 'disfigured' during the same bombing on February 28, in which his father died, when the US and Israel attacked Iran. The official also indicated that the US could bomb Iran's Kharg Island again, the center of the Islamic Republic's oil industry, which, he said, was the target of 'one of the most powerful bombings' in the history of the Middle East, as he himself announced on Friday in his post on the social network Truth. According to Trump, 'perhaps' they will 'bomb a few more times just for fun.' Trump assured on Saturday in his post on the social network, where he usually communicates, that during the bombing they had completely annihilated all the military objectives on the island, where 90% of the oil the country exports to the world is stored. Iran responded to the aggression against the island by stating that it would destroy 'all the oil, economic, and energy infrastructure related to the United States' in the Middle East. Likewise, Trump told NBC that he is not willing at this time to reach an agreement with Iran, to which the US and Israel declared war on February 28. 'Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to because the conditions are not yet good enough,' he stated and assured that for that to happen any condition would have to be 'very strong,' but he refused to go into details but did hold that it would include a commitment from the Persian country to set aside its nuclear ambitions. Regarding the controversy over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world's oil passes daily and which Iran has closed to the US, Israel, and allies, Trump indicated that they are not sure if Iran has laid mines there, so he assured they will carry out 'intensive cleanup work.' 'We believe that other countries that have certain difficulties, and in some cases, are prevented from obtaining oil, will join us,' he added. Photo EFE.
