Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said he had a “different opinion” on the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding but approved its signing anyway.
Khamenei’s first statement since the MOU was announced was communicated as a written message; the elusive leader hasn’t been seen or heard from since he was wounded in the opening strikes of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28. His social media accounts relayed his written statement, which began by condemning President Donald Trump for using “all kinds of leverage” to secure a deal “out of desperation.”
“I, as a matter of principle, held a different view; however, out of the commitment that the esteemed president—as the head of the Supreme National Security Council—gave to me on his own behalf and on behalf of the other members regarding the safeguarding of the rights of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front, and his explicit acceptance of that responsibility, I granted my permission,” he said, referring to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“He [Masoud Pezeshkian] also explicitly stated that if the American side seeks to make excessive demands, they will not submit to them. From this moment on, we—that is, you, the proud nation, and this humble servant—will await the realization of the aforementioned conditions,” Khamenei said, adding that “it’s self-evident that the in-person negotiations in the future will not mean acceptance of the enemy’s position.”
His remarks concluded with a blessing and hope that prayers would “bring all kinds of victories and triumphs to the honorable nation of Iran.”
Khamenei’s statement communicated his hold on power, presenting the decision to sign the memorandum as ultimately his. However, it also shielded him from criticism by claiming that a deal with the U.S. wasn’t his preferred course of action but was rather his subordinates’ initiative. In this way, the message mirrors the premise of Trump’s joke that he would take credit for the deal if it went well and blame Vice President JD Vance if it didn’t.
As with his previous statements to the public, Khamenei’s message was only communicated in print.
The condition of the supreme leader has been the subject of rife speculation since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pushed through his election to be the supreme leader in March. While Iranian officials such as Pezeshkian claim they have met with him, Western and Israeli intelligence have no idea whether he’s even alive or not, giving conflicting answers.
Trump floated the possibility that he was dead early on, then incapacitated, then began claiming in recent weeks that he was alive and well.
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Various theories have been floated by intelligence that he’s either dead, comatose, alive but severely wounded and mutilated, or alive but under the control of the Guard. Most are confident that he isn’t the one ultimately wielding power, with true power being in the hands of the Guard.
Iran is currently run in “a power-sharing arrangement within a five-member collective leadership composed of the president, the parliamentary speaker, the judiciary chief, and one representative each from the regular Army and the IRGC, either Mohsen Rezaei or Ahmad Vahidi,” Professor Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute and expert on the Guard and succession politics in Iran, told the Washington Examiner in March.