{"id":3920,"date":"2026-08-05T21:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=3920"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:00:04","slug":"iran-president-says-contact-with-supreme-leader-is-very-difficult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=3920","title":{"rendered":"Iran president says contact with supreme leader is &#8216;very difficult&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-tms-ad-status=\"idle\" data-tms-ad-container class=\"o-ad-container o-ad-container--banner-top o-ad-container--with-shimmer o-ad-container--with-background\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__content o-ad-container__content--report-enabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__label m-block-ad__label--report-enabled\">\n                    <span class=\"o-ad-container__label__text\">Advertising<\/span><br \/>\n                                            <button title=\"Report this ad\" class=\"o-ad-container__content__report-link\" data-tms-ad-report><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-ad-sponsoring\" data-tms-ad-type=\"sponsoring\" data-tms-ad-status=\"disabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-sponsoring__wrapper\">\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content t-content--article\" id=\"main-content\">\n<div class=\"t-content__above-sidebar\">\n<h1 class=\"t-content__title a-page-title\">Iran president says contact with supreme leader is &#8216;very difficult&#8217;<\/h1>\n<div class=\"m-master-tag\">\n<div class=\"a-tag-section\">\n                                    Middle East\n                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"t-content__chapo\">\n                                        Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that communication with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was &#8220;very difficult&#8221; following the leader&#8217;s reported wounding during the US-Israeli strike that killed his father. Pezeshkian, however, defended Khamenei against rising speculation over his absence from public view.                <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__with-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"t-content__beside-sidebar\" data-article-content>\n<div class=\"t-content__metadata\">\n<div class=\"t-content__dates\">\n<p class=\"m-pub-dates\"><span class=\"m-pub-dates__date\">Issued on: <time datetime=\"2026-08-05T20:19:01+00:00\">05\/08\/2026 &#8211; 22:19<\/time><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"a-reading-time\">\n    <span class=\"a-reading-time__icon\" title=\"Reading time\"><\/p>\n<p>    <\/span><br \/>\n    1 min    <span class=\"u-sr-only\">Reading time<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"a-share-button\" data-root-share>\n<p>                            <span class=\"a-master-button__label\">Share<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__authors\">\n<div class=\"m-from-author\">\n                    <span class=\"m-from-author__by-label\"><br \/>\n                By:<br \/>\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"m-author\">\n<div class=\"m-author__name\">\n                                                    <a href=\"\/en\/author\/france-24\/\" title=\"FRANCE 24\" class=\"m-author__name__title\"><br \/>\n                                FRANCE 24<br \/>\n                            <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__main-media\">\n<figure class=\"m-item-image m-item-image--16x9 m-item-image--has-caption\">\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/64b8c46c-910a-11f1-9719-005056a90284\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/000-C3WL3E4.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/64b8c46c-910a-11f1-9719-005056a90284\/w:388\/p:16x9\/000-C3WL3E4.jpg 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/64b8c46c-910a-11f1-9719-005056a90284\/w:720\/p:16x9\/000-C3WL3E4.jpg 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/64b8c46c-910a-11f1-9719-005056a90284\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/000-C3WL3E4.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1076px) 100vw, 1012px\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"An Iranian woman holds a portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as Shia Muslim devotees take part in a mourning procession marking Arbaeen in Tehran on August 4, 2026\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"a-img \"><figcaption class=\"a-figcaption\">\n                An Iranian woman holds a portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei as Shia Muslim devotees take part in a mourning procession marking Arbaeen in Tehran on August 4, 2026.        \u00a9 AFP     <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__body u-clearfix\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/iran\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Iran<\/a>&#8216;s President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/masoud-pezeshkian\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Masoud Pezeshkian<\/a> said Wednesday that communication with the country&#8217;s supreme leader, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/mojtaba-khamenei\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Mojtaba Khamenei<\/a>, was very &#8220;difficult at the moment&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Khamenei, who was wounded in the US-Israeli strike that launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/middle-east\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Middle East<\/a> war, has not appeared in public since succeeding his father, who was killed in the same attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a-read-more\"><span class=\"a-read-more__label\">Read more<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/asia-pacific\/20260706-his-resilience-his-words-his-character-mourners-grieve-late-supreme-leader-khamenei\" target=\"_self\" class=\"a-read-more__link\">&#8216;His resilience, his words, his character&#8217;: Mourners grieve late supreme leader Khamenei<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; Pezeshkian said.<\/p>\n<p>The younger Khamenei has communicated through written statements but his low profile at a time when Iran is in conflict with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/usa\/\" target=\"_self\">United States<\/a> has led to speculation about his relations with other top officials.<\/p>\n<p>He notably did not appear at his father&#8217;s funeral ceremonies last month.<\/p>\n<p>Pezeshkian defended his leader, however, insisting he had been able to hold productive meetings with him and been met with &#8220;kindness and very sound logic&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, the current situation allows some malicious people to describe him differently and to present a different image of him,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>(FRANCE 24 with AFP)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"o-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"o-sidebar__aside\">\n<div data-tms-ad-status=\"idle\" data-tms-ad-container class=\"o-ad-container o-ad-container--box o-ad-container--with-shimmer\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__content o-ad-container__content--report-enabled\">\n<div class=\"o-ad-container__label m-block-ad__label--report-enabled\">\n                    <span class=\"o-ad-container__label__text\">Advertising<\/span><br \/>\n                                            <button title=\"Report this ad\" class=\"o-ad-container__content__report-link\" data-tms-ad-report><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"t-content__tags t-content__below-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"m-section-title m-section-title--small\">Keywords for this article<\/div>\n<ul class=\"m-tags-list\">\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/iran\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Iran\">    Iran<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/iran-conflict\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Iran war\">    Iran war<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/mojtaba-khamenei\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Mojtaba Khamenei\">    Mojtaba Khamenei<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/masoud-pezeshkian\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Masoud Pezeshkian\">    Masoud Pezeshkian<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/usa\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"USA\">    USA<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Donald Trump\">    Donald Trump<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li class=\"m-tags-list__tag\">\n                <a href=\"\/en\/tag\/israel\/\" class=\"a-hot-tag\" title=\"Israel\">    Israel<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Advertising Iran president says contact with supreme leader is &#8216;very difficult&#8217; Middle East Iranian President&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3922,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3920\/revisions\/3922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}