Communication lines between Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and other Iranian officials have been disrupted since Sunday night, according to information obtained by the anti-regime London-based outlet Iran International.
A source familiar with the escalation, including Iran launching missiles towards Israel on Sunday night and Monday morning, said that the launches were likely carried out under "pre-established military protocols without coordination with Khamenei's office," Iran International reported.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' response to Israel's strike on Dahiyeh in southern Beirut appeared to be too rapid to have followed an exchange of messages between Khamenei and the IRGC and military chiefs, the source added.
Khamenei was severely wounded during Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28 at the start of Operation Roaring Lion.
He has not made a public appearance since, despite succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader in early March.
Several statements attributed to Khamenei read by officials despite supreme leader not making public appearances
However, in May and June, officials read at least three separate written statements attributed to Khamenei.
On May 1, the apparent statement said that the "noble" Iranian population will safeguard the regime's nuclear and missile technologies as "national assets."
On May 26, his apparent statement threatened US bases in the Middle East, saying that "The nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases."
The same statement also threatened Israel, calling it the “shaky Zionist regime and cancerous tumor," and praised Hezbollah's "resistance" against "the Zionist regime."
His June 4 attributed statement claimed that Israel and the US is attempting to sow division within the country.
The "Israeli regime and its supporters" changed strategy after a "military setback," and have "turned efforts aimed at weakening public resiliance and influencing the decisions of Iranian officials," his statement read.
The statement also warned that Israel's tools include "spreading doubt, fear, despair, mistrust, and division within society."