Trump says he thinks Iran’s new supreme leader is alive but ’damaged’

March 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said that he thinks new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father, the former supreme leader, was killed ​on the first day of the U.S. and Israel's war ​on Iran, is alive but "damaged."

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

An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but was continuing to operate, after ​state television described him as war-wounded.

"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.

In Khamenei's first comments, he vowed to keep the Strait of ​Hormuz shut and ​called on ⁠neighboring countries to close U.S. bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.

The U.S. and ​Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28. ​Iran ⁠has responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf countries with U.S. bases.

As the war approached the two-week mark, having ⁠killed thousands ​and shaken financial markets, the leaders ​of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and have vowed to ​fight on.