Iran analyst Meir Javedanfar seems sceptical about the news that Ayatollah Khamenei may be dead (or in a coma), which originated - he said - with Michael Ledeen:

Should Mr Ledeen's story turn out to be true, the CIA should seriously consider giving him a senior post. Anyone who has access to sources in Iran who know Khamenei's exact whereabouts and the timing of his movement is to be taken very seriously. They should also ask Mr Ledeen if his sources have any friends/relatives who work near or at a giant construction site in Qom, which glows at night. And while they are at it, if they manage to find Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's secret Bar Mitzvah pictures at The Western Wall, then they would make a lot of people at The Daily Telegraph very happy.

Meanwhile, Khamenei can join Kim Jong Il and Fidel Castro in the select club of world leaders whom no one is ever quite sure whether they are alive or dead.