Iran's president seeks to dispel claims of leadership rift

Tehran, Iran – A meeting between Iran's two top leaders might seem routine, but President Masoud Pezeshkian's announcement of a positive discussion with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was an effort to counter narratives from the U.S. administration that the Islamic Republic's leadership is fractured.

Pezeshkian's statement on Thursday appeared to mark the first time the president could meet Khamenei since the late leader Ali Khamenei's son was selected for the country's most powerful position two months ago.

Pezeshkian did not specify when the two-and-a-half-hour meeting took place, but said Khamenei had fostered an atmosphere of 'trust, calm, unity, and direct, unmediated dialogue,' according to state media.

Since the death of Ali Khamenei and several other officials in a February 28 attack, U.S. President Donald Trump and others have pushed the narrative that Tehran's military, security, and political circles are divided.

'It's time for Iran to make the rational choice,' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters at the White House on Monday, after Washington made a new proposal to reach an agreement with Iran. 'That's not easy for them because their leadership system is cracked. Also, the people who run that government are, to put it mildly, insane.'

Iran International, a London-based anti-Islamic Republic news network, cited unnamed sources this week claiming Pezeshkian was angered by military operations led by Ahmad Vahidi, Ali Abdollahi, and other Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, and had considered resigning before requesting direct access to the supreme leader, who is recovering from injuries sustained in the attack that killed his father.

However, the presidential chief of staff and the vice president for communications gave separate interviews to state-affiliated ISNA news agency, saying Pezeshkian and IRGC commanders make decisions in joint meetings, and that the resignation and rift allegations are 'fake news.'

The IRGC's role

Experts told Al Jazeera that the IRGC and its associated security apparatus have cemented a central role in Iran's strategic decision-making, especially concerning the Strait of Hormuz.

'I think the military and security faction around Mojtaba Khamenei now has enormous influence, probably greater than at any point in years because war has elevated the importance of coercive power, deterrence, and wartime cohesion,' said Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for International Policy.

The analyst said the Supreme National Security Council remains a top institution on paper, but in practice decision-making may go through smaller connections with the supreme leader's office, senior IRGC figures, and trusted officials like Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr.

'At this stage, it's hard to imagine any meaningful agreement on the strait without their approval,' Toossi said. 'Hormuz is increasingly seen not simply as an economic chokepoint but as one of Iran's core strategic deterrents, especially after the war showed Iran could still threaten shipping and energy flows despite weeks of intense U.S. and Israeli bombing.'

Saeed Leylaz, a pro-establishment political and economic analyst based in Tehran, said he believes that although views may differ among some figures in the Islamic Republic's leadership, they all rally under the banner of the new supreme leader.

Leylaz said Iranian authorities agree on the need to maintain control of Hormuz as long as the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports remains, increasing pressure on the Iranian people.

'But the Americans don't want to give in. They started the naval blockade right after the ceasefire. Then they said they want to open the strait and then backtracked,' he told Al Jazeera. 'All of this signals to the Islamic Republic that if it gives up control of the strait without a strong geopolitical deal, it won't be able to come back and therefore will lose.'

'Surrender'

Iranian authorities continue to engage in diplomatic messaging with Washington through intermediaries, while expressing mistrust toward the other side.

President Pezeshkian and others stress they cannot agree to a deal that amounts to surrender, despite threats of massive bombing of Iran's energy infrastructure.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited China this week and maintains close communication with Russia.

'Our Chinese friends believe that Iran after the war is different from Iran before the war,' the diplomat said after meetings, adding that 'Iran's international standing has improved and it has proven its capabilities and strength.'

But Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continue to make some of the same demands as before the war began, including a complete halt to uranium enrichment on Iranian soil and the removal of stockpiled highly enriched uranium.

Leylaz, the Tehran-based analyst, suggested Iran could temporarily compromise on its nuclear program but will not completely abandon enrichment.

He said that while the blockade is harming Iran, it also negatively affects U.S. regional allies like Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait. He argued they have a lower tolerance threshold than Iran, which has endured years of U.S. and UN sanctions.

Toossi, based in Washington, said a future more securitized Iranian state may invest less in broad reconciliation with the U.S. and focus more on deterrence, strategic self-sufficiency, and strengthening relations with non-Western powers.

'At the same time, the system still appears interested in avoiding an all-out war if it can secure recognition of its core interests and avoid economic strangulation. So I think the most likely scenario is controlled, prolonged confrontation interspersed with intermittent diplomacy, rather than either full normalization or immediate total war,' he said.