Secret meeting? Report claims Iran’s president couldn’t even see supreme leader Mojtabad Khamenei

Dubai: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was reportedly taken to a secret location in Tehran for a highly unusual meeting with supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, where the two allegedly spoke from inside a dark, tinted-window vehicle without seeing each other, according to a report by Iran International.

The report, citing unnamed sources familiar with the meeting, claimed Pezeshkian was unable to confirm the identity of the person he was speaking to and later asked aides whether the voice he heard was actually Mojtaba Khamenei’s.

It also alleged that the meeting lasted only a few minutes and ended without the president being allowed to shake hands with the supreme leader.

The claims have not been independently verified, and Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the report.

Different from president’s public account

The reported encounter contrasts sharply with Pezeshkian’s own description of a meeting with Mojtaba earlier this year.

Speaking to representatives of trade associations in May, the president said he had spent two and a half hours with the supreme leader in what he described as a “cordial atmosphere.”

According to Iran International, however, the meeting itself was only secured after Pezeshkian repeatedly requested an audience and allegedly threatened to resign during disagreements over major policy decisions.

The report said Khamenei’s office eventually agreed to a meeting but declined to host it at the supreme leader’s official residence, breaking with established protocol.

Instead, Pezeshkian was reportedly driven by his security team to an undisclosed location in Tehran before being transferred into another vehicle with heavily tinted windows where Khamenei was waiting.

The publication said the interior was kept so dark that the two men could not see each other during their conversation.

Sources quoted in the report claimed the president later described the encounter as humiliating and subsequently requested another meeting at Khamenei’s residence, but that request was allegedly rejected.

Communication ‘very difficult’

Pezeshkian has publicly acknowledged that access to the supreme leader has become increasingly difficult.

“It is very difficult to communicate with him at the moment, but in any case, his presence is a very great source of strength for us so that we can continue,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.

Despite that, the president defended Khamenei, saying he had experienced “kindness and very sound logic” in their interactions and argued that critics were presenting a distorted image of the leader.

Reports of growing tensions

Iran International also reported that Pezeshkian had repeatedly threatened resignation over disagreements with Iran’s leadership and formally sought to step down in May, claiming his administration had been sidelined on national security and foreign policy.

Separately, Israeli media outlets, including Channel 14, have claimed that Khamenei backed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Ahmad Vahidi on key strategic decisions, further reducing the president’s influence. Those reports have not been independently confirmed.

Rare public appearances

Mojtaba Khamenei has remained largely out of public view since succeeding his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli airstrike on February 28, 2026.

Since then, he has issued only written statements carried by Iranian state media and has not appeared publicly.

In July, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told AFP that only a limited number of people had met the supreme leader during that period.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump recently claimed in a Fox News interview that Khamenei’s son was “90% gone,” though he did not elaborate on what he meant.

The reported secret meeting, if accurate, would offer a rare glimpse into the unusually secretive workings of Iran’s leadership at a time when the country remains under intense regional and international pressure.