Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has denied claims he threatened to resign amid hardline opposition to negotiations with the US over the Strait of Hormuz.
The resignation claims, made by a relative of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, suggested Pezeshkian had been sidelined from decision-making. Khamenei’s office called the claims “fundamentally false and untrue.”
Pezeshkian insisted he was in harmony with the military and would not resign: “If I want to resign, I will officially announce that I have resigned. I will not resign, I will stand.”
The row has exposed deep divisions inside Iran over talks with the US. The conservative-dominated Assembly of Experts described hopes for an agreement as “futile” and labelled “whispers of capitulation” an “unforgivable betrayal.”
The US and Europe hope a deal to reopen the strait is imminent, though officials in Muscat fear the agreement would leave Iran with near-permanent dominance of the vital shipping channel