Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has submitted a resignation letter to the office of Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran's Supreme Leader, according to a dissident outlet. Iranian media swiftly pushed back, calling the report "false."
On December 31 (local time), the U.K.-based dissident outlet Iran International cited an anonymous source in reporting that Pezeshkian had submitted a resignation letter to the Supreme Leader's office stating that "the president and the government have been excluded from key national decision-making processes."
Pezeshkian also reportedly told the office that "a hardline group within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has seized the power vacuum," adding that "under these conditions, I cannot run the government or fulfill my legal responsibilities, so I will resign immediately." Iran International said it could not confirm whether Mojtaba Khamenei had accepted the resignation.
Iranian media outlets and presidential office officials uniformly denied the report. The semi-official Tasnim News Agency, citing a government source, rebutted that "the president has not resigned and was fully devoted to his duties today," adding that "his schedule going forward will proceed as usual." Tasnim also alleged that Iran International is linked to Israel's intelligence agency Mossad.
Tasnim further released a video labeled "today's government meeting," in which Pezeshkian said, "I will keep going as long as I have breath," and "We must be on the ground and manage the field." Seyed Mehdi Tabatabai, deputy head of public relations at the presidential office, also posted on X (formerly Twitter) that "President Pezeshkian will never step back from serving the people."
Tensions within Iran's leadership, however, have repeatedly surfaced in the media. According to dissident, Israeli, and Western outlets, the hardline IRGC has effectively taken control of diplomatic negotiations with the United States and the suppression of domestic dissent, filling in for Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured following the assassination of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran International added that Pezeshkian is president in name only, holding little real power and struggling even to form his cabinet.
Pezeshkian himself took to official social media without confirming or denying the resignation, speaking in ambiguous terms. On his X account, he wrote, "Confronting great challenges is impossible without enduring hardship. Passing through this winding road is only possible through public awareness and cooperation," adding, "We must clearly explain the existing reality to the people, so that all sectors of society can participate in solving the problems."
