Iran's president says he recently met with new Supreme Leader

Iran’s president gave the first public account of a recent meeting with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen publicly since the strikes that killed his father and reportedly wounded him.

Masoud Pezeshkian said the meeting lasted nearly two and a half hours and was held in what he described as a close and cordial atmosphere.

“What stood out to me more than anything else in this meeting was the manner, outlook and deeply humble and cordial approach of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,” Pezeshkian said.

He added that Khamenei’s approach turned the discussion into “an atmosphere based on trust, calm, empathy and direct dialogue.”

Pezeshkian also linked the meeting to the need for unity inside the leadership, saying Khamenei’s conduct could serve as a model for the country’s management system.

“When the highest-ranking official in the country treats officials and individuals with such moral conduct, humility and a people-oriented spirit, this behavior can naturally become a model for the country’s administrative and management system,” he said.

The account comes weeks after sources told Iran International that Pezeshkian had repeatedly sought an urgent meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei but received no response. The sources said a “military council” of senior IRGC officers had imposed a security cordon around the new Supreme Leader and prevented government reports from reaching him.