Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly operating from a secret location under an extraordinary security veil, with even senior Iranian officials unable to directly reach him, according to a CBS News report citing US intelligence officials.
The report comes at a time when indirect communication channels between Tehran and the Donald Trump administration remain sluggish, with American officials reportedly struggling to get timely responses from Iran’s leadership. US intelligence officials told CBS that the communication bottleneck inside Iran’s own system has become one of the major reasons negotiations have moved slowly.
According to the report, messages intended for Mojtaba Khamenei are being routed through a complex courier chain designed to conceal his whereabouts. Officials cited by CBS claimed that every exchange takes time, with long delays between proposals sent by the US and responses received from the Iranian side.
The secrecy surrounding the Iranian Supreme Leader has reportedly deepened after Operation Epic Fury, during which Mojtaba Khamenei was said to have been injured in coordinated American and Israeli strikes. The strikes also reportedly wiped out several senior Iranian figures after intelligence agencies penetrated Iran’s internal systems.
Why communication with Iran’s leadership is facing delays
CBS News reported that even high-ranking Iranian officials do not know where Mojtaba Khamenei is currently based and have no direct line of communication with him. Instead, messages are relayed through multiple intermediaries to prevent any possibility of his location being exposed.
One US official quoted in the report said the intelligence received from inside Iran during the conflict played a major role in helping American and Israeli agencies identify and eliminate parts of Iran’s senior leadership structure.
Another official said the responses coming from the Supreme Leader’s office often arrive with “a lot of latency”, making diplomatic engagement extremely difficult.
Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since war began
While Iranian state-linked media continue to publish statements attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, he has not appeared live in public since before the start of the conflict, the report noted.
CBS added that the current security arrangements are believed to be aimed at preventing a repeat of the strikes that killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The developments have added to uncertainty around the pace and direction of any future engagement between Washington and Tehran.