- Mojtaba Khamenei is hiding in a secure location with limited communication access
- US intelligence reports reveal a secretive network delays Iran-US peace talks
- The Supreme Leader's location is unknown even to senior Iranian officials
With assassination threats still looming over his head, Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, is reportedly hiding in an undisclosed secure location with extremely limited communication access. The only way to reach Khamenei is through a "labyrinth of couriers", according to a CBS News report.
Citing US intelligence officials, the American publication reported that an extremely secretive network has become a major communication obstacle amid the ongoing peace talks between Washington and Tehran, as the Iranian officials negotiating with the Trump administration are facing difficulty reaching the Supreme Leader.
According to the report, it's the central reason why the details of a potential deal with Iran and past agreements have been slow to emerge. Officials said that whenever Washington sends any new proposal, it often faces difficulty in reaching the supreme leader, leading to long delays before the US receives a response.
The White House has declined to comment on intelligence related to the supreme leader's whereabouts or Iran's internal communication methods.
However, a senior Trump administration official told CBS that Khamenei had agreed to the contours of the current draft agreement before US President Donald Trump's Truth Social post claiming he anticipated final word in the next few days.
Where Is Mojtaba Khamenei?
Khamenei, who was injured in US and Israeli strikes in Operation Epic Fury, has not been officially seen or heard in public since before the start of the war. Media reports claim he is taking extreme measures to avoid the strikes similar to the ones that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran from 1989 until February 28.
US and Israeli forces have used intelligence obtained from inside the Iranian government to locate and eliminate much of the Iranian senior leadership during the war, one official told CBS.
Therefore, they said, most Iranian leaders now avoid being seen in public, spending weeks inside highly fortified bunkers and only speaking to each other when absolutely necessary. "Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated," one official said.
But among the leadership, the most cautious measures are reportedly being taken by Mojtaba Khamenei himself, and even the most senior Iranian officials don't know where he is and have no way to contact him directly. Messages are being sent to him network of couriers created to obscure his location, the report said.
"This is why you see people saying things like, 'The supreme leader has agreed to the framework,' or 'We're waiting to hear back on the final deal points.' Every piece of information he receives is dated, and there's a lot of latency to his responses," one official said.
Per the report, Khamenei has communicated the broad terms to his subordinates, giving them direction on what issues they can negotiate and which issues shouldn't be discussed.
