Iran’s president said he held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei, according to local media, marking the first reported in-person meeting between a top Iranian official and the country’s new supreme leader.
President Masoud Pezeshkian referenced the need to “strengthen unity, trust, and solidarity within the country’s leadership structure” as he described a recent meeting with Khamenei, the semi-official Fars news agency reported today, without specifying when it took place.
Khamenei has not been seen publicly since he was inaugurated in March after US-Israeli strikes killed his father and predecessor, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leading to speculation about his health and whereabouts.
All public statements attributed to the new supreme leader have been read out by presenters on state television, and this is the first time a senior government official is reported to have met him in person.
The timing is also significant, coming amid growing optimism among officials that Washington and Tehran are close to an understanding.
Pezeshkian said Khamenei had taken part in the meeting with “a spirit based on simplicity, humility, sincerity, and mutual respect, which made the atmosphere completely direct, open, and accompanied by a sense of closeness and trust.”
“When the highest-ranking official in the country interacts with people and officials with such ethics, humility, and a people-oriented spirit, this behavior can naturally become a model for the country’s administrative and management system as well,” the Iranian president was quoted as saying.
