Investing.com -- Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, President Donald Trump said he thinks Khamenei is alive but "damaged." Khamenei’s father, the former supreme leader, was killed on the first day of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

"I think he probably is (alive). I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form, you know," Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ "The Brian Kilmeade Show." His remarks were published by Fox News late on Thursday.

Khamenei has not been seen by Iranians since his selection on Sunday by a clerical assembly. His first comments were read out by a television presenter on Thursday.

In those comments, Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.

Rumors on Thursday suggested Khamenei may have lost a leg.