Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is in the country but is refraining from making public appearances “for understandable reasons”, Reuters reports citing the RTVI news outlet, which quoted Russia’s ambassador to the country as saying.

Mojtaba replaced his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed when Israel and the United States launched their war on Iran more than a month ago. The US has said it believes Mojtaba himself is wounded and likely disfigured.

Russia has close ties with Iran, with which it signed a strategic partnership treaty last year.