Iran’s president offers resignation, citing total takeover by IRGC commanders
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has submitted an official letter of resignation to the Office of the Supreme Leader, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has submitted an official letter of resignation to the Office of the Supreme Leader, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International.
In the letter sent on Sunday, Pezeshkian stressed that the president and the government have effectively been excluded from major and vital decision-making processes in the country, and that the vacuum created by this situation has enabled hardline factions within the IRGC to take control of affairs, the source said.
Pezeshkian added that under such circumstances he is unable to run the government and carry out his legal responsibilities, and for that reason has requested to step down immediately.
It is not yet clear whether Mojtaba Khamenei will accept the president's resignation, but the contents of the letter point to a deep and unprecedented rift at the highest levels of power.
This comes after months of tensions between the government and the Islamic Republic’s military-security institutions. Iran International previously reported that the IRGC had gradually restricted many presidential powers and effectively taken control of key parts of the government.
According to informed sources, the situation has left Pezeshkian’s administration trapped in a political and executive deadlock, preventing diplomatic negotiations from moving forward and the completion and implementation of desired changes to the cabinet structure.
IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency denied Iran International’s report, citing an informed government source as saying President Masoud Pezeshkian had not resigned and was continuing to carry out his duties.
Separately, Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy head of communications and information at the president's office, dismissed the report in a post on X and said Pezeshkian would not step back from serving the people.
Despite Tehran’s firm demands for the immediate and unconditional release of $12 billion in cash upon the signing of an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States, Qatari officials rejected the
According to a source close to a Qatari official involved in the discussions, Doha refused to transfer the funds directly or in cash to Iran. Instead, the money will only be made available as credit for Tehran to purchase essential goods and products directly from Qatar.
The restriction comes amid strong US opposition to granting Iran direct, unrestricted access to liquid financial assets.
Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (right) and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (left) depart for Doha on Tuesday, 5/25/2026
The recent high-stakes visit of a senior Iranian delegation to Doha, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has ended in a major diplomatic setback for Tehran, an informed source with knowledge of the negotiations told Iran International.
Despite Tehran’s firm demands for the immediate and unconditional release of $12 billion in cash upon the signing of an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States, Qatari officials rejected the request, agreeing to release only half of the amount under strict limitations, the source said.
According to a source close to a Qatari official involved in the discussions, Doha refused to transfer the funds directly or in cash to Iran. Instead, the money will only be made available as credit for Tehran to purchase essential goods and products directly from Qatar.
The restriction comes amid strong US opposition to granting Iran direct, unrestricted access to liquid financial assets.
Washington raised concerns that direct cash injections would provide the Iranian government with vital economic breathing room, allowing it to pay delayed public salaries and procure military equipment or other goods from foreign countries during a time of intense regional strain.
Iran International previously reported that Tehran had set the unrestricted release of the $12 billion held in Qatar as a strict, non-negotiable precondition before it would advance any preliminary diplomatic understanding or sign the proposed framework agreement.
While Speaker Ghalibaf explicitly requested liquid financial assistance to ease Iran's severe domestic economic pressures, Qatar’s counteroffer effectively bars Iran from using the capital at its own discretion in a blow to Tehran’s strategy in US talks.
Rather than gaining direct access to the cash, Tehran is now forced to spend the capped credit line solely within the Qatari market for essential commodities.
To prevent the dispute from derailing the broader, highly sensitive framework talks with the United States, which aim to secure a regional ceasefire and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, all participating parties have reportedly agreed to keep the details of this financial disagreement strictly confidential.
eople walk past a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran, May 16, 2026.
A source close to the Tehran-Washington negotiations told Iran International there are doubts over whether Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and the Islamic Republic’s negotiating team are fully coordinated with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The source said there were serious ambiguities over how much Khamenei knows about the talks and the extent of the negotiating team’s understanding with the Trump administration.
Ghalibaf and Araghchi’s recent trip to Qatar, coupled with the negotiating team’s reluctance to go to Pakistan or continue talks in Tehran, has deepened questions over who is coordinating the process inside the Islamic Republic, Information received by Iran International indicates
Israel could return to military action against Iran if diplomacy with Tehran fails to meet core objectives, Israel’s ambassador to Australia told Iran International in an exclusive interview.
Hillel Newman said Israel supported talks between Iran and the United States, but only if they removed what he described as existential threats from the Islamic Republic.
“We’re in favor... of talks as long as they attain the objectives. We cannot compromise on the objectives,” Newman said.