Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underwent prostate surgery Sept. 8 in a government hospital in Tehran. The supreme leader’s website published pictures and video in a sort of live blog, covering the before and after of the operation, to head off speculation about his health and, indirectly, his possible successors.
Before the operation, Ayatollah Khamenei gave an interview in which he said, “Yes, I have an operation and I am on now my way to the hospital. Of course, there is no place for worry. It doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t pray. … It’s a very normal and ordinary operation.” He was standing during the short interview.