Any final agreement between the United States and Iran would reportedly require approval from Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, through clandestine courier channels while he remains concealed as a “designated target,” according to counterterrorism analysts who say the unusual situation is reshaping the nature of the negotiations.

Experts told Fox News Digital that the arrangement effectively leaves Washington negotiating with a leadership figure who cannot appear publicly and whose communications allegedly depend entirely on secretive intermediaries.

“Khamenei is a designated target, and every confirmed sighting is a coordinate,” Dr. Omar Mohammed told Fox News Digital.

He further stated:

“The courier system used for messaging is not transitional. It is the operating system of his rule.

“Any deal the United States signs will have to be designed for a permanently invisible counterparty whose enforcement depends on his continued survival. That is not arms control as it has been conventionally understood. It is a memorandum signed under American military pressure, with a regime whose leader cannot show his face.”

Mohammed’s comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed reporters in India regarding delays surrounding the ongoing negotiations.

“It’s just the response,” Rubio said. “I mean, when you get down on some of these things, you’ve got to hear back, and it takes the Iranians — takes them a little while longer to get back,” he explained.

Mohammed argued that Rubio’s remarks amounted to a public acknowledgment of the communication difficulties involved in dealing with Iran’s hidden leadership structure.

“That is Secretary Rubio confirming the courier latency on the record,” said Dr. Omar Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative Program on Extremism at George Washington University. “Rubio is describing a structural feature of negotiating with a supreme leader no one can locate.

“Mojtaba is in hiding, messages are moving by courier, and responses are arriving days late.

“Rubio just confirmed the symptom, and the administration is being honest about the problem. The question is whether the framework can be designed to survive it,” Mohammed claimed.

According to the report, Khamenei has allegedly remained underground for nearly three months as tensions with the United States intensified.

The report claims he disappeared from public view following a Feb. 28 strike that killed his father amid reports he himself was seriously wounded.

The article states that he was hit during “Operation Epic Fury” and was described by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as “wounded and likely disfigured.” His wife and son were also reportedly killed in the strike.

“Officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government do not know where he is,” Mohammed said, adding that any intelligence or communication reaching him is “dated, and his responses come with significant latency.”

The developments come as Washington and Tehran continue negotiations aimed at ending the conflict that erupted on Feb. 28.

“If there’s going to be a deal, we’re going to have to work through that. But this is, you know, it’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one,” Rubio said Tuesday.

According to a senior administration official, the United States is prepared to consider sanctions relief if Iran agrees to substantial concessions regarding uranium enrichment. The status of frozen Iranian assets has reportedly also become a major sticking point in the talks.

Iran indicated Monday that no final agreement with the United States is expected immediately, despite what officials described as progress toward a broader framework.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said discussions remain focused on ending the war across multiple fronts, including Lebanon, and noted that any proposed memorandum of understanding currently lacks detailed provisions concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

Mohammed said the larger issue for the United States goes beyond simply reaching a signed agreement.

“The real question for Washington is not how fast the framework can be signed,” Mohammed added.

“It is also what enforcement looks like when the counterparty’s signature comes through a courier.”

{Matzav.com}