Overview
- Iran’s president disclosed Thursday on state TV that he held a roughly two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei, calling it a frank and calm discussion.
- Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared in public since his early March appointment after the February 28 strikes killed Ali Khamenei, and his statements have only been issued in writing or read on air.
- Iranian officials have said the new leader was wounded in the strikes, and the president’s son said he is alive and stable, while international reporting based on unnamed Iranian officials describes multiple injuries and a highly restricted location with no verified audio, video, or confirmed whereabouts.
- Al Jazeera reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s disclosure is meant to rebut U.S. claims of a split at the top and to project that the state is acting in concert.
- Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera say the Revolutionary Guard now shapes many wartime decisions, especially over the Strait of Hormuz, which could steer any talks on easing the naval blockade and managing regional shipping.