Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed Thursday that he last met with invisible Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei a month or so ago and that the ruling cleric was “completely” healthy.
“I don’t remember the dates. About a month. A month-and-half ago,” Pezeshkian told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier, when asked about his last in-person meeting with Khamenei.
“We met for about seven hours,” the Iranian president continued. “We conducted talks.”
Khamenei, 56, is believed to have suffered horrific injuries in the Feb. 28 airstrikes that killed his father at the start of the US war against Iran.
He hasn’t made a public appearance, or even appeared on video, since being elevated to supreme leader.
When Baier pressed Pezeshkian if Khamenei is healthy and able to govern, the Iranian president was adamant he was.
“Very much so, completely,” Pezeshkian responded, noting that his administration is receiving “directions” from Khamenei.
Pezeshkian blamed the “lack of security that was created by the action of foreigners … the action of aggressors” for why Khamenei has been so reclusive since the start of the war.
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The supreme leader reportedly sustained severe leg and disfiguring facial injuries in the strike on his father’s compound.
Pezeshkian insisted that Iran is “seeking an agreement” with the US to end the conflict and “willing and still wish[es] to move forward” with a memorandum of understanding signed in Pakistan in June. The agreement fell apart after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continued to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian president blamed a “lack of coordination” and “misunderstandings” about the implementation of the agreement for its demise, rather than the IRGC ship attacks.
At the same time, Pezeshkian warned that Iran “will keep resisting until the very end,” and he pledged to “respond strongly” to US attacks.
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“With the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us, but we do not wish to continue,” he said. “It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”
Asked about reports that Chinese entities have been providing Iran with satellite images of US bases in the Middle East for the IRGC to target, Pezeshkian said he was “unaware of these purported images.”
He added, “What militaries do with one another, between two countries, it is their own business.”
Pezeshkian would not say whether he believes a deal can be reached to end the war before the end of the year.
