Iranian Official Says Khomeini Is in Good Physical Condition

BONN — Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is in very good physical condition and walks several kilometers a day, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati said in a published interview.

He told the West German magazine Stern that he confers with Khomeini at least every two weeks and that Khomeini exerts direct influence on policy.

Velayati, whose interview appeared in Wednesday’s edition of the magazine, said Khomeini keeps fit by working a lot and walking several kilometers daily in his garden in Tehran.

“Good, very good,” Velayati said when asked of Khomeini’s condition. “He is in much better shape than I am.”