Khomeini Said to Be Riddled With Cancer, Near Death
U.S. intelligence reports say Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is riddled with cancer and could die within days or months, an Administration official said Friday.
The official said the 88-year-old Khomeini could die in as soon as five days, but added, “I don’t think anybody really knows exactly.”
U.S. intelligence reports show Khomeini is suffering from several kinds of cancer, said the official.
The official added that a CBS television report quoting U.S. intelligence sources estimating that Khomeini could die within three months from cancer was “accurate enough to prompt an investigation” on how the information was leaked.
In Manama, Bahrain, a West European diplomat recently in Tehran said Friday that Khomeini has suffered from cancer of the prostate “for some time.”
There has been no reaction from Tehran on the latest reports on the health of Khomeini, who was last seen in public May 17. However, the official Iranian news agency said Friday that two top Iranian leaders conferred with Khomeini’s probable successor, Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri.
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