Iran's parliament speaker says Mojtaba Khamenei is in 'perfect health'
The supreme leader has not appeared in public since the war began. Tehran is pushing for a regional non-aggression pact without a U.S. presence.
Symbolic image · Photo: Ninara from Helsinki, Finland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Oct. 27 that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in "perfect health." CBS News sources have reported that Khamenei was seriously wounded in March and he has not been seen in public since the war began. There is no independent confirmation of his condition.
Tehran meanwhile continues to push for regional arrangements without outside involvement. Mohsen Rezaee, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said Iran wants U.S. and allied forces to withdraw from the region. The think tank ISW assessed that Iran sought to use its meeting in Tehran with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey to get them to press Washington to resume talks. Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi proposed a non-aggression pact between Gulf states and Iran, but ISW judged Tehran unlikely to accept it without a U.S. withdrawal.