FEATURED PHOTO: President Rouhani visits Supreme Leader in hospital after Ayatollah Khamenei’s operation
LATEST: Political Activist Dowlati Freed After 18 Months in Prison
Iran’s State media reports that the Supreme Leader underwent “successful” prostate surgery on Monday at a public hospital in Tehran.
The Leader has undergone a prostate surgery this morning in a public hospital & with God’s grace it was successful.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) September 8, 2014
Dr Marandi, #Iran Leader's operation team head, says Leader @khamenei_ir is in complete health after this morning surgery
— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom) September 8, 2014
Shortly before leaving for hospital, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “It is a normal operation and there’s no need to worry but it doesn’t mean I don’t need people’s prayers.”
State media said that the Supreme Leader was not put under general anesthesia and was talking during the surgery.
President Rouhani visited Khamenei after the operation. In one picture (see Featured Photo), it is unclear if the Supreme Leader is conscious; however, in another, he appears to be awake:
Other senior officials — including former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani, Guardian Council leader Ali Jannati, and Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Khamenei — also visited Khamenei:
Rumors about the state of health of the 75-year-old Khamenei have circulated for years, notably in autumn 2009 when he disappeared from public view for some time amid protests over the disputed Presidential election.
Political Activist Dowlati Freed After 18 Months in Prison
Houtan Dowlati, a member of the National Front political party, has been freed from prison after 18 months.
Dowlati was arresed in March 2012 and charged with “membership in the National Front, propaganda against the regime, and making a documentary for the Iran-e Farda television network”.
He was sentenced to three years in jail, but that sentence was cut in half in an appellate court.
He has also banned from any internet activity or membership in a political party for five years.
