Is his voice heard? Reasons why no audio recordings of the Supreme Leader in Iran have been published

The Iranian daily newspaper Al-Mashari, affiliated with the Tehran municipality, published an article on Sunday revealing the reasons why no audio recordings of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, have been released to date.

According to the Al-Mashari Telegram channel, the decision to withhold such recordings stems from fears that intelligence services could track and analyze the audio files to determine Mojtaba Khamenei's location. The channel outlined five primary technical risks:

1. Every enclosed space possesses a unique acoustic signature, which can reveal precise details about the room where the speaker is located.

2. Analysis of the power grid can reveal the date, exact time, and even the specific segment of the electrical network where the recording was made.

3. Every microphone and recording device leaves a unique mark on an audio file. For instance, mobile phone microphones often attenuate low frequencies, while lower-quality components create unique harmonic distortions that act as a digital fingerprint.

4. Ambient noise from ventilation systems, generators, cooling equipment, or other technical characteristics of a site can expose its location.

5. The resonance of a speaker's vocal system can reveal breathing patterns, pauses between words, physical condition, heart rate, and current stress levels.