We've been talking about how the cardboard Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen since the first attack on Operation Epic Fury, in which he was allegedly injured. There hasn't even been video or a recording of his voice.
Turns out we're not the only ones asking questions about the missing Supreme Leader.
There's now a report about how the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian tried to have a "meeting" with the cardboard leader, but it turned into a hilarious cloak-and-dagger exercise.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was whisked to a secret location in Tehran, shoved into the back seat of a dark car with blacked-out windows and told he was sitting next to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei — except he never actually saw the man, according to a bombshell report from Iran International.
The meeting was only agreed to by Khamenei’s office after Pezeshkian repeatedly begged for one and threatened to quit.
Even then, the supreme leader refused to meet at his official residence, as is custom.
Instead, the president was driven to a secret location in Tehran, pulled from his own security convoy and placed in the back of a commercial vehicle.
The cabin was kept so dark the two men couldn’t see each other — with guards even barring Pezeshkian from shaking the supreme leader’s hand.
The situation reportedly irritated Pezeshkian, who asked aides whether the person beside him had actually been Khamenei at all — because all he’d heard was someone talking in the dark.
It's not clear when this alleged "meeting" occurred.
Obviously, that didn't prove Khamenei was alive at all. It sounds like it raised even more questions because Pezeshkian then demanded a real meeting but has not been given one.
But it sounds like Pezeshkian may be facing some retaliation for daring to question.
Iranian media reported this week that Khamenei formally granted IRGC Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi the ultimate authority on decision-making, sidelining Pezeshkian’s political administration.
Then there was a report about Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, whose sister is married to Khamenei's brother, allegedly insulting Pezeshkian, claiming the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's doctor had "shoved him down the nation's throat."
A senior cleric has blamed the physician of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei for pushing Masoud Pezeshkian's presidency on Iran, in a speech aired this week laced with insults. Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi, whose sister is married to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's brother, called… pic.twitter.com/OH6SbiiNML
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) August 6, 2026
Before that, Khamenei's office denied as “entirely false” a claim by Kharrazi, who claimed the Supreme Leader said he would accept Pezeshkian’s resignation if it were submitted again.
It's safe to say there's a lot of turmoil amongst the leadership there.
But at this point, there has to be a lot of questioning going on in the country.
All that's been seen of Khamenei since the start of the military action has been the cardboard figure of him. How can you operate like that?
READ MORE: Pure Gold: Hilarious Cardboard Memes About Iran's New 'Supreme Leader'
That's pretty challenging in a regime built on the cult-like worship of the Supreme Leader — but there's no leader to worship.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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