Iran’s Supreme Leader shown at event amid reports of deteriorating health

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei made his first public appearance on Saturday after reports of poor health over the past week.Dressed in black and wearing a mask as he has been since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Khamenei participated in a mourning event to mark the Shia religious observance of Arbaeen.

The annual ceremony with the supreme leader’s participation is held with representatives of student groups, but had been cancelled for the past two years because of the coronavirus outbreak.Images released by Khamenei’s website showed the supreme leader walking, waving to the crowd and sitting to observe the mourning ceremony.His appearance comes after multiple unconfirmed reports of the 83-year-old leader falling “gravely ill”.

Khamenei, who has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, underwent a successful prostate cancer operation in 2014.