Iranian authorities have refuted rumours of President Masoud Pezeshkian resigning over tensions with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) regarding decision-making processes in the ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel.
UK-based news outlet Iran International reported that Pezeshkian submitted his resignation to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, alleging that the elected government had been excluded from major decision-making processes while the IRGC has been taking control of the affairs.
In response, Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the IRGC, cited an informed government source and reported that Pezeshkian had not resigned and would continue to carry out his duties.
Deputy Head of Communications and Information at the President’s Office Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei also dismissed the report on X, maintaining that Pezeshkian would not retreat from serving the people.
Tabatabaei wrote, “The rumour-mongering by the disreputable foreign network is a continuation of previous ridiculous media games. They have published their own wishful thinking in place of reality.”
“President Pezeshkian will not retreat from serving the people, just as the Iranian nation will not step back from the path of solidarity and resistance. They will take their wish to shatter the unity of the Iranian nation to the grave.”
Past rumours about internal divisions
There have been multiple reports in recent months about tensions brewing between the government and the IRGC.
A previous report by the New York Times had mentioned that a small, elite band of men in senior positions, a majority being current or former senior IRGC commanders, were in charge of key decision-makinh in Iran.
“Senior Iranian officials maintain that all key matters are run by the 56-year-old heir. Decision making, however, extends beyond one man,” said the report.
It claimed that the “hardened band of brothers”, who were running the country, were shaped by the “seminal experience” of “the brutal, eight-year war between Iran and Iraq that began in 1980.”
