Mojtaba Khamenei in undisclosed location, tough to reach as peace process continues: Report
Washington DC, May 25
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is living in secrecy at an undisclosed location with limited access to the outside world, CBS News reported on Sunday, citing US intelligence.
According to the report, the Iranian Supreme Leader is only reached by a labyrinth of couriers, as per US officials with knowledge of the matter, and the Iranian officials authorised to work with the Trump administration are having a tough time communicating inside of their own government system, which is a key reason why the negotiations have been slow to emerge.
CBS said that when the US sends proposed details, the difficulty in reaching the supreme leader results in a long delay before the US receives a response, two of the officials said.
The report mentioned that while the most cautious measures are being taken by the supreme leader, even officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government are not aware of his whereabouts and have no way to contact him directly.
Instead, messages are passed through a network of couriers created to obscure the supreme leader's location.
The official said every piece of information received is dated, and there is a lot of latency in the responses by the Supreme Leader.
One of the officials also said that the American and Israeli intelligence obtained from inside the Iranian government made it possible to locate and eliminate much of the Iranian senior leadership during the war.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was injured in the American and Israeli strikes during Operation Epic Fury, and has since then been taking extreme measures to avoid strikes similar to the ones that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
While he has not been seen in live in public since before the start of the war, messages attributed to him are routinely reported by Iranian media.
— ANI
Reader Comments
And here I thought the Trump administration was loud and direct. This hidden leader approach maybe explains why the nuclear deal never really took off again. If the guy calling the shots can't even be reached in a reasonable time, progress is doomed. Interesting read though.
Chaar log toh bana lo yaar! This is crazy—couriers in 2025? I get why he's hiding after the strikes, but how can you trust any messages are even from him? Khamenei's so cut off, his own officials don't know where he is. It's like a Bollywood thriller but real. Peace process is doomed if it takes a week for each reply. 🇮🇳
The US and Israeli intelligence really did a number on them. I'm not surprised the guy's in hiding, but this level of isolation seems unsustainable. Latency in responses could mean someone else is making decisions for him. Not exactly a recipe for transparent diplomacy, especially with the US wanting to finalize things.
As an Indian watching from afar, this is a classic 'security first' move, but it's also a sign of weakness. If the leader is this hard to reach, the system must be paralyzed. The peace process is a joke if it's just endless delays. And honestly, I'm skeptical of these 'US official' reports—they always have an agenda. Still, eye-opening.
I feel for the Iranian people. Their 'Supreme Leader' can't even show his face. This secrecy is a double-edged
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