Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, held a meeting with a senior military commander – the second such meeting within days, as reported by Iranian state media.
Khamenei met with Maj. Gen. Abdollahi, the commander of military headquarters, and received a report on Iran’s armed forces’ readiness, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
No photos or videos from the meeting were released. Iranian media has not published any images of Khamenei since his inauguration in March due to speculation about his health and location following the death of his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Abdollahi stated that Iranian forces are highly prepared with necessary equipment and weapons to counter any hostile actions by American-Zionist enemies. He also mentioned that they would respond swiftly, intensely, and powerfully to any strategic mistake, aggression, or attack.
Khamenei declared that Iran had thwarted its enemies from achieving evil goals and issued new instructions to confront them powerfully.
President Masoud Pezeshkian reported a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Khamenei on Thursday, marking the first in-person meeting between a top Iranian official and the new Supreme Leader.
Pezeshkian did not specify the date of the meeting.
According to CNN, US intelligence believes Khamenei is playing a critical role in shaping war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials. The exact authority within the fractured regime is unclear, but Mojtaba Khamenei is likely involved in directing Iran’s negotiations with the US to end the war.
