U.S. President Donald Trump said Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader, is involved in the U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations and that he wants to meet him someday.
According to the New York Post on Tuesday (local time), Trump said in an interview with the outlet's podcast "Pod Force One": "Mojtaba is clearly involved in the ceasefire negotiations, and they (the Iranian side) respect him very much." He added, "I'd like to meet Mojtaba. Depending on how things go, I'll probably meet him at some point."
"Negotiations with Iran are moving quickly. Iran will not have nuclear weapons, and many other good things will happen going forward," Trump said. "It's regrettable that small-scale conflicts are hindering the peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, but I am optimistic that an agreement can be reached fairly quickly."
Mojtaba assumed the position of Iran's new supreme leader in early March, succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike. However, he has yet to appear in public and has not released any voice recordings of his speeches.
The U.S. government understands that Mojtaba is hiding in a location cut off from the outside world and receives details of negotiations with the U.S. through a complex communication network. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Monday that "Mojtaba is alive, is involved in the decision-making of the Iranian regime, and is gradually increasing his activities."
