Mojtaba Khamenei Video Was Not His First Public Appearance During Asim Munir’s Iran Visit

A video circulating on social media claiming to show Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei making his first public appearance during Field Marshal Asim Munir’s visit to Iran has been found to be misleading.

The clip began circulating after Munir’s visit to Iran on August 24, 2026, with social media users claiming that Khamenei had appeared publicly for the first time during the Pakistani military chief’s visit.

However, records show that the same footage had already been published online on August 18, 2026, six days before Munir arrived in Iran.

What does the viral claim say?

A video shared on X on August 25 shows Mojtaba Khamenei speaking on camera while surrounded by a group of people.

The post claimed that this was Khamenei’s first public appearance since becoming Iran’s Supreme Leader and suggested that Iranian media had linked his appearance to Field Marshal Asim Munir’s visit.

The claim gained attention online amid reports that Khamenei had remained largely out of public view since taking office.

Footage was available before Munir’s visit

A reverse-image search of the viral footage led to an earlier upload on Iran’s digital platform Aparat.

The video was published on August 18, 2026, under a title referring to Mojtaba Khamenei attending a doctoral thesis defence session.

This confirms that the footage was publicly available six days before Asim Munir’s August 24 visit to Iran.

Therefore, the video could not have been recorded or released for the first time because of Munir’s visit.

Why did the claim spread?

The confusion appears to have resulted from the timing of the footage's wider publication.

On August 24, the same or related footage was released by Iran’s Fars News Agency to international news agencies and subsequently appeared through outlets including Reuters, Tehran Times and Al Arabiya English.

Because these media organisations published the footage on the same day as Munir’s visit, social media users interpreted the timing as evidence that Khamenei had made a new public appearance.

However, the earlier August 18 upload establishes that the footage had already been publicly available.

Was the footage recorded after Khamenei became Supreme Leader?

The exact date on which the video was recorded could not be established from the available evidence.

Reports accompanying the footage described it as archival material, with Tehran Times indicating that Khamenei was appearing in his capacity as a thesis adviser.

Al Arabiya English also described the footage as archive material and reported that Khamenei had not appeared publicly since becoming Supreme Leader in March 2026.

Therefore, while the publication date is confirmed, the precise date when the footage was recorded remains unclear.

Verdict

9 News HD Fact Check: MISLEADING

The viral claim that Mojtaba Khamenei made his first public appearance during Field Marshal Asim Munir’s August 24 visit to Iran is misleading.

The footage was already published online on August 18, six days before Munir’s visit. Although several news organisations published the footage on August 24, its earlier online availability shows that it was not newly released during the Pakistani military chief’s visit.