Moment absent Ayatollah's statement is read out on Iran State TV

This is the moment a statement read on behalf of Iran's new Supreme Leader was read out on state TV, amid rumours he is 'in a coma' and has lost a leg - or is even dead. The written statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was read out by a news anchor on state TV this afternoon. He himself did not appear on national TV. His absence will only fuel rumours that he is either too ill to record a reading of his statement or died in an airstrike. The statement says that Iran would not refrain from avenging the 'blood of its martyrs.'The Iranian leader, who took over from his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his assassination on February 28, added that while he believes in maintaining a friendship with Iran's Gulf neighbours, attacks on US bases in the region will continue. He said: 'We are not an enemy of the countries around us, and we are only targeting the bases of those Americans.'