President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian takes questions from the media during a news conference in New York on Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said communication with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “very difficult at the moment,” while describing the new leader as a major source of strength for the country.
Pezeshkian made the remarks in an interview with state news agency IRNA broadcast on Iranian television on Aug. 5 to mark the end of his second year in office.
He said former supreme leader Ali Khamenei had provided strong support to his government and that his death had deprived the administration of an important source of backing.
Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. His son Mojtaba succeeded him as supreme leader in March.
“Communication with him is currently very difficult,” Pezeshkian said, while calling Mojtaba Khamenei’s presence “a major source of strength.”
Pezeshkian said the new leader had initially opposed a proposal connected to the negotiation process but ultimately allowed it to proceed after it received the backing of 12 of the 13 members of the relevant council.
He accused some political groups of using the issue to deepen internal divisions.
Reviewing his first two years in office, Pezeshkian described the current situation as Iran’s most difficult period since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, citing tighter sanctions, restrictions on banking and financial transactions, war and attempts to isolate the country.
He credited the Iranian public with keeping the country together, saying the term “people” covered everyone living in Iran, regardless of their beliefs, political views, gender or ethnicity.
Addressing the unrest of December 2025 and January 2026, Pezeshkian acknowledged shortcomings in the authorities’ response and said the situation should not have been allowed to escalate.
He said some demonstrators had raised legitimate grievances and that innocent people had been caught up in the violence, while accusing other groups of exploiting the protests for political ends
