Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei has prostate surgery

TEHRAN, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underwent prostate surgery on Monday morning.

According to Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, the 75-year-old supreme leader's operation was successful.

Dr. Alireza Marandi, who led the surgical team, reported Khamenei was "in a normal health condition" after the routine operation. The surgery took less than 30 minutes and was performed using local anesthesia. "During the operation, the Leader was completely conscious and spoke."

Before his surgery, Khamenei delivered a brief televised statement, noting, "There is no room for concern. It is an ordinary operation and there is no need to be worried."

The surgery was performed at an unspecified hospital in Tehran. "Ayatollah Khamenei insisted on having the operation in a public hospital in a way that would cause the least trouble for other patients," Marandi said, adding, "That was why he went under surgery early in the morning."