Iranian Supreme Leader Hospitalized

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 76, was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday, according to several unconfirmed media reports.

Doctors discovered the extent to which the cancer had spread during surgery last September, diagnosing it at stage 4 and saying he had up to 2 years to live.

According to some reports, his condition has not been announced publicly as his successor is sought.

Khamenei, who has served as Iran's supreme leader since 1989, has frequently referred to Israel as a malignant tumor that must be excised, a rabid dog that must be destroyed and other similar remarks.

Earlier this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a joint session of Congress, "Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred, the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with the newest technology. He tweets that Israel must be annihilated -- he tweets. You know, in Iran, there isn't exactly free Internet. But he tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed."