Report questions whether Pezeshkian actually met Iran’s new supreme leader

Iran International, cited by Livemint, reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian was taken to an undisclosed location in Tehran and allowed only a brief, voice-only meeting in a dark, tinted-window vehicle with a man presented as Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, based on unnamed sources familiar with the episode. The report said Pezeshkian could not see the man beside him, that the meeting lasted only a few minutes, and that security personnel did not allow a handshake, he reportedly later asked aides whether he had actually met Khamenei or someone claiming to be him. This account differs from Pezeshkian's own public statement that he spent two and a half hours with the new leader in a cordial atmosphere. The report added that Pezeshkian has since sought a second meeting at Khamenei's official residence, which has reportedly been rejected. Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly in the roughly five months since succeeding his father, and no verified audio or video of him has been released.