Khamenei warns Iranian president Pezeshkian over resignation threats | The Jerusalem Post
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei wrote to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to warn him that he would accept the president’s resignation if he submits it again, a relative of the supreme leader told Iran’s Tabnak media site on Monday.
Senior cleric Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi, whose sister is married to Iran’s supreme leader’s brother, claimed that the warning was intended to see Pezeshkian “back down.”
“They’ve written that if Mr. Pezeshkian does it one more time, they will accept his request. They’ve officially announced it. That’s why they’ve started packing up their things,” he said. “Pezeshkian no longer dares to do it. Since they told him that… if he does it one more time, they’ll accept it.”
Pezeshkian was reported to have submitted his resignation in late May, claiming that he was being excluded from vital decision-making processes along with several other key voices, an informed source told Iran International. Four senior Iranian officials told the New York Times in early July that Pezeshkian previously threatened to resign if Khamenei rejected the Memorandum of Understanding.
The Iranian presidency denied Kharrazi’s claim that Pezeshkian had attempted to resign 28 times, and in a televised interview on Tuesday, Pezeshkian denied having any plans to voluntarily leave his position.
‘I will not resign, I will stand firm’
“We are fully coordinated with the military forces. I will not resign, and I will stand firm,” Pezeshkian said. “If I resign, I will formally announce that I have resigned.”
Kharrazi also claimed Khamenei intended to replace Supreme National Security Council chief Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr, a foundational figure in the IRGC, with his top military aide Mohsen Rezaei, another longtime senior figure of the IRGC.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also reportedly told he had “no right to interfere” with the negotiations, according to Kharrazi.
Kharrazi’s comments come amid new divides in the Islamic regime, as officials lack consensus on how much should be sacrificed to maintain the illegal control of the Strait of Hormuz, the Institute for the Study of War noted.
Pezeshkian stated on Sunday that the MoU was supported completely by the SNSC, and that Iran must encourage the US to uphold the agreement. Similarly, Iran’s chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf argued in July that Iran should not sacrifice other objectives to maintain the resources needed to keep control over Hormuz.
Arachi expresses support for Omani Hormuz solution
Araghchi, who is also part of Iran’s negotiating delegation despite allegations he had no right to “interfere,” also reportedly expressed support for a recent proposal that would see inbound traffic in the Strait of Hormuz go through Iranian waters and outbound traffic would exit through Omani waters.
However, Zolghadr, a more hardline figure, said last week that “The continuation of the US regime’s maritime blockade and warmongering will further tighten the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and also close other straits and chokepoints, and the global economy, energy markets, and American voters will pay the price,” according to IRNA.
Roger Macmillan, a terrorism and security specialist, offered The Jerusalem Post an alternative explanation for the apparent soured relations.
“Pezeshkian’s only weapon was always the threat to walk. What we’re seeing this week is Mojtaba Khamenei taking that weapon away from him, telling him, in effect, ‘go ahead, resign, see if I care,’” he said. “But there is a deeper level of concern, and that is when you look at the personnel involved in the key IRGC leadership positions, given Khamenei’s absence… Likely that Zolghadr is out and replaced by Mohsen Rezaei in at the security council; Araghchi being told to stay out of the negotiating room. Every one of those moves points the same direction: the IRGC hardliners are taking the pen out of the civilian government’s hand at exactly the moment Iran is negotiating with Washington.”
Macmillan warned that these were signs that the IRGC is “hardening” and “moving to total control” of the Islamic Republic.