
Iranian State TV Claims Ghalibaf Met Unseen Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei
Iran’s state broadcaster claimed on Wednesday that Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to discuss the conflict with the United States and Israel, but released no photos or video of the purported meeting.
According to state broadcaster IRIB, Ghalibaf and Khamenei reviewed developments in the “military, economic and cognitive warfare” waged by the US and Israel against Iran. The two also discussed cooperation between the government of President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament on addressing Iran’s economic difficulties and advancing ties with the country’s strategic partners. State TV did not say when or where the meeting took place, and the report could not be independently verified.
Khamenei has not made a single public appearance since becoming supreme leader on March 8, following the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in US-Israeli strikes on February 28. Senior sources have said he suffered facial disfigurement and other injuries in the strike.
Since taking office, Khamenei has communicated primarily through written statements read out on state media. Iranian outlets have released short video clips of him, but without dates or locations. Pezeshkian has said he met Khamenei twice since March, including an August meeting that lasted more than seven hours.