Mojtaba Khamenei meets Iran president, office says

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently met Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Khamenei's office said Sunday, in a rare official statement about a leader who has not appeared in public since taking the post early in the Middle East war.

The office said Pezeshkian met Khamenei at the start of his third year in the presidency and that they discussed “the country's issues and problems”, including the “current military situation and future prospects”. It did not give the date of the meeting.

Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024, said on Wednesday that communication with Khamenei was “very difficult at the moment”. He had also said in early May that he had met Khamenei, but did not give a date, and Khamenei's office issued no statement at that time.

Speculation has continued about Khamenei's health after reports that he was wounded in strikes that killed his father. On Sunday, Tasnim news agency cited a Revolutionary Guards general as saying images showing Khamenei among people and during meetings would be published “in the future”, without giving a timeline.

Iran had been negotiating with Washington on ending the war, but a preliminary deal fell apart. Iran's top diplomat has said talks are now limited to exchanging messages through mediators.