he Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been in power since 1989, when he took over following the death of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ruhollah Khomeini. However, he has had health issues in the past, and in 2014 had surgery on his prostate.

Axar.az reports citing Iranian media that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has met with organisers of events to mark the first anniversary of the killing of senior Iranian military commander General Qasem Soleimani in a US drone attack in Iraq in January this year.

It was Khamenei’s first public appearance since rumours of his deteriorating health started circulating earlier this month. Last week it was reported that Khamenei may have transferred power to his 51-year-old son, Sayyid Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, who currently oversees several security and intelligence departments in the country.