Iranian factions squabble over war aims as supreme leader maintains low profile

When Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state TV last week that he found it “very difficult” to reach the country’s supreme leader, it sparked fresh speculation about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei — who hasn’t been seen in public since taking over as the country’s ultimate authority in March. 

By Monday, Pezeshkian told the official broadcaster that the pair had, in fact, recently held a meeting lasting “seven or eight hours.”

“It was a very good meeting,” Pezeshkian told a reporter on the sidelines of a summit of the heads of political factions and politicians in Tehran. He added that they discussed how to tackle worsening living standards in Iran as well as sharing that Mojtaba Khamenei’s most pressing concern was “unity and cohesion” in the country.