A post shared on X claims The New York Times (NYT) reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has terminal cancer.

BREAKING: NYT reports that the Islamic Republic in Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, was diagnosed with a terminal cancer. pic.twitter.com/U4D8wtXwsx

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 26, 2024

Verdict: False

The NYT did not report this. The paper reported that he was ill but later issued a correction on the matter.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming that the NYT reported that Khamenei was diagnosed with terminal cancer. One user wrote, “BREAKING: NYT reports that the Islamic Republic in Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, was diagnosed with a terminal cancer.”

This claim is false. There is no evidence that Khamenei was diagnosed with cancer. A search of the NYT’s website did not yield any results. A wider search did not yield any results for any credible reporting that Khamenei had terminal cancer. (RELATED: FACT CHECK: Did FEMA Hire Illegal Immigrants For Hurricane Relief Efforts?)

The origin of the claim appears to be from an Oct. 26 NYT article, which reported that he had been “seriously ill,” according to the Jerusalem Post. It later issued a correction on the matter, stating that the Iranian leader had been reported as ill in 2022.

“A correction was made on Oct. 27, 2024: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated what is known about the current health of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was said to have been ill in 2022,” reads the correction.

The NYT reported that Khamenei had been ill in 2022. Misbar also debunked this claim.