India, April 8 -- Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reportedly unconscious and receiving urgent medical treatment in the city of Qom, according to a diplomatic memo obtained by the British daily, The Times. The development raises serious questions about who is effectively running the country as tensions escalate with the United States and Israel.

The memo, based on US and Israeli intelligence assessments, describes the 56-year-old cleric as being in a "severe" condition and "unable to be involved in any decision-making by the regime." It marks the first time Khamenei's location has been publicly disclosed, placing him in Qom, Iran's religious heartland. Intelligence agencies had reportedly known his whereabouts for some time bu...