According to The New York Times, citing Iranian officials, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei that he would resign if the proposed agreement with the United States was rejected.
The officials said Pezeshkian met with Khamenei during the final stages of the negotiations and warned that Iran’s economic situation had become critical. He reportedly said that the U.S. naval blockade was crippling the country and informed the Supreme Leader that he would step down if the agreement was not approved.
The newspaper also reported that the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran sent a letter to Khamenei warning that the country was facing a severe budget crisis. According to the report, food stocks and essential medical supplies could be exhausted by the end of August if the naval blockade continues, noting that Iran is unable to sell its oil or establish alternative trade routes on the scale needed to sustain the economy.
In a separate report, The New York Times, citing two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and an individual involved in organizing the funeral arrangements, said that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had expressed a desire to attend his father’s funeral.
However, security agencies and advisers reportedly opposed the move out of concern that Israel could exploit the occasion to carry out an assassination attempt or track Khamenei’s movements to determine his hiding place, ultimately preventing him from attending the funeral.
