Iran president has rare meeting with supreme leader

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently met with supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since assuming the post early in the Middle East war, Khamenei's office said Sunday.

"Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian met Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and spoke with him at the start of his third year in the presidency," the supreme leader's office said in a statement, without indicating the date of the meeting.

Pezeshkian, who took office in July 2024, had said in early May that he met with Khamenei, also without specifying the date, but the supreme leader's office did not issue any statements at the time.

The president had said on Wednesday that communication with Khamenei was "very difficult at the moment", and speculation has swirled about the supreme leader's health after he was reportedly wounded in strikes that killed his father.

Khamenei's office said the two "discussed in detail the country's issues and problems", including the "current military situation and future prospects".

Iran had been engaged in negotiations with Washington on ending the war launched by the US and Israel in February, but a preliminary deal fell apart, and its top diplomat has said talks are now limited to exchanging messages through mediators.

On Sunday, Tasnim news agency cited a general in the Revolutionary Guards as saying that images showing Khamenei among the people and during meetings would be "published in the future", without offering a timeline.