newspaper said “The New York TimesIranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei canceled all public meetings and events last week due to his serious illness, according to four people familiar with his health.
The newspaper added that Khamenei, 83, is currently bedridden under the supervision and control of a team of doctors.
The newspaper quoted one of the people as saying that Khamenei underwent surgery last week due to a blockage in the intestines after he suffered from severe stomach pain and a high temperature.
The newspaper added that the four people, two of whom are in Iran and one of whom has close ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue such as Khamenei’s health.
A person familiar with the operation said that Khamenei underwent the surgery in a clinic set up in his home and office, and is currently being monitored around the clock by a team of doctors.
He added that his condition was considered critical last week, but it has improved, and he is now resting, as his doctors monitor him around the clock and are concerned that he is still so weak that he cannot sit.
The Revolutionary Guards’ Tasnim News Agency published a brief news on Friday, saying that Khamenei will attend a religious ceremony with university students on Saturday.
The New York Times says it is not clear if Khamenei will attend the ceremony, given his health.
Khamenei had traveled to Mashhad about two weeks ago to perform a ritual known as cleaning dust at the Imam Reza shrine.
The newspaper pointed out that Khamenei went at the time to a secluded area of the shrine, cleaned it and placed his head on the tombstone in a sign of prayer and submission. Iranian media published a picture of him at the shrine.
According to one of the four people, who was familiar with the details of his trip to Mashhad, Khamenei told his companions who were traveling with him that he felt it might be the last time for him to visit the shrine given his age.
The person said Khamenei fell ill shortly after arriving in Tehran and his health deteriorated over the past week.
Khamenei’s office canceled all meetings last week as well as an important annual meeting with the Assembly of Experts on September 6, because he was too ill to sit, according to four people familiar with his health.
Usually, Iran does not publicly comment on the health of the Iranian leader, but it had announced in 2014 that he had undergone prostate surgery.
The newspaper reported that Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said that it could not make any comment at the present time without obtaining Tehran’s approval.
The Iranian constitution stipulates that the Assembly of Experts directly elects the Supreme Leader, where he remains in office until his death, and he can only be removed by the Assembly itself in the event that he is proven incompetent.
The Leader has wide authority to formulate public policies in the country and approve the President of the Republic, who is elected by the people every 4 years, as well as the General Command of the Armed Forces, which makes him manage all aspects of the state.