Iran's supreme leader holed up in undisclosed location, slowing deal talks - report
US intelligence indicates Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is sealed off with little access to the outside world, with Iranian negotiators struggling to communicate within their own government
US intelligence shows that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is effectively holed up in an undisclosed location with little access to the outside world and is reached only through "a labyrinth of couriers," according to a CBS News report citing US officials with knowledge of the matter.
The Iranian officials authorized to work with the Trump administration have had a difficult time communicating within their own government system, the report said, describing it as a central reason why details of a potential deal with Iran and of past agreements have been slow to emerge.
When the US sends proposed terms, the difficulty in reaching the supreme leader means there can be a long delay before a response comes back, two of the officials said.
According to the report, even senior Iranian officials are unaware of Khamenei's whereabouts, with messages passed through a network of couriers created to obscure his location.
The isolation reportedly stems from extreme security measures Khamenei has taken since the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a US-Israeli strike at the start of the war. Mojtaba Khamenei was himself reportedly injured in the strikes and has not been seen in public since.