Iran President Says Communication With New Supreme Leader Is Difficult

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said communication with the current supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, has become very difficult.

Pezeshkian made the remark on Aug. 5 in a nationally televised public address marking the second anniversary of his inauguration. He was recalling the early stage of the war, when former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and others were killed in US and Israeli airstrikes.

Mojtaba was appointed supreme leader on March 8 after his father, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, was killed in US-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28. Mojtaba was also reported to have been seriously injured at the time. Since succeeding his father, he has not appeared in public once, citing security concerns. He was also absent from his father's funeral last month.

"The enemy sought to bring down the state through missile attacks, but we prevented that," Pezeshkian said. "After falling into despair, the enemy carried out barbaric attacks that led to the martyrdom of the supreme leader."

He said Iran remained firmly intact despite what he described as the enemy's attempt to collapse the state, and that a new supreme leader had been selected.

"Communication with the new supreme leader is currently very difficult," he said. "The very existence of the new leader is a major source of strength that allows us to continue on this path."

Choi Su-jin, Hankyung.com reporter naive@hankyung.com