TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 9, 2026
Iranian media released rare footage of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei while his office separately announced a meeting with President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iranian media released rare footage of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Sunday amid reports alleging his health had deteriorated, providing an unusual glimpse of the Iranian leader months after his selection to the country’s highest office.
The video, aired by the semi-official Mehr News Agency, showed Khamenei surrounded by several people and apparently speaking to them.
Mehr did not disclose when or where the footage had been recorded and did not identify the individuals accompanying him.
Rare images
The footage is particularly notable because Khamenei has remained almost entirely outside public view since becoming supreme leader earlier this year.
He was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts on March 8, eight days after his father, longtime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was assassinated in the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.
Since assuming the position, Mojtaba Khamenei has issued several written messages to the Iranian people and the wider Islamic world but has not appeared publicly.
Mehr’s footage therefore represents a rare visual appearance of the Iranian leader during an exceptionally sensitive period for the country.
The agency provided no additional details regarding the circumstances in which the video was recorded.
Meeting with Pezeshkian
Separately, the Office of the Supreme Leader announced on Sunday that Khamenei had met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
According to Khamenei’s office, the meeting coincided with the beginning of the third year of Pezeshkian’s presidency.
“Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Republic, met Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, coinciding with the beginning of the third year of his presidential term, and the two exchanged views,” the office said.
The statement said the two held detailed discussions on the challenges currently facing Iran, particularly the economic conditions affecting ordinary Iranians.
The talks addressed “the issues and problems of the country, especially meeting the livelihood needs of the people,” according to the office.
War, economy and military developments
Khamenei and Pezeshkian also discussed what the Iranian statement described as the current circumstances of the “third imposed war,” its possible future trajectory and developments in the military sphere.
Economic issues reportedly included securing and managing financial resources, foreign currency and energy supplies, as well as Iran’s economic interaction with foreign partners.
The meeting was not the first reported encounter between the two leaders.
Pezeshkian disclosed a previous meeting with Khamenei on May 7, describing the atmosphere as cordial. No corresponding public appearance by Khamenei was reported at that time.
Leadership during the US-Iran war
Mojtaba Khamenei assumed Iran’s highest leadership position during the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Iran and the United States reached a ceasefire in April and subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending the military confrontation and establishing a framework for a longer-term settlement.
That understanding later collapsed, with Tehran and Washington exchanging attacks for nearly two weeks in July before US President Donald Trump halted the latest bombardment amid renewed diplomatic efforts.
Iran’s leadership has therefore been navigating simultaneous military, economic and political pressures during Khamenei’s first months in office.
Against that backdrop, the rare video released on Sunday has attracted particular attention because of the reports surrounding his health and the scarcity of publicly available images of him since his selection.
(Mehr News, Iranian Media, Al Mayadeen, AA, TPC)
