A Shiite cleric is now inventing sightings of Mojtaba Khamenei because the Islamic Republic cannot prove its supposed leader is alive, conscious or governing. The cleric claims Mojtaba appeared at a loyalist rally in Tehran for half an hour. Yet there is no photograph, video, recording or independently identified witness. Mojtaba has released no authenticated audio or video since being installed after his father’s death. He was not even publicly seen at Ali Khamenei’s funeral. If Mojtaba can stand in a crowded square for 30 minutes, he can record a ten-second message. Instead, officials issue statements in his name while clerics manufacture mystical sightings worthy of the Hidden Imam. The regime is hiding more than one man. It is hiding who actually rules. If Mojtaba is dead or incapacitated, the Islamic Republic faces another succession crisis during war. If the Revolutionary Guard is issuing orders behind his name, the supposed theocracy has become a military regime using an invisible cleric as its mask. A leader who exists only through rumors, intermediaries and unverifiable sightings has no religious or political legitimacy. The cleric is not announcing Mojtaba’s return. He is desperately trying to conceal the empty throne at the center of the Islamic Republic.