Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has denied reports that he had been seeking to resign, saying the claims were aimed at “creating discord” among Tehran's political and military leadership.
Mr Pezeshkian said his government was “fully co-ordinated” with Iran's military forces, and dismissed rumours of a rift in Tehran.
“I will not resign and I will stand firm,” Mr Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by Iranian state media. “If I resign, I will formally announce that I have resigned.”
His remarks come after reports emerged alleging that he had threatened to resign 28 times. They also suggested that he had submitted a tentative resignation letter in May, in which he purportedly complained that his government had been “entirely sidelined” from national security and foreign policy by the military and hardline factions. Iranian officials denied the allegations at the time.
The reports also quoted cleric Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi as saying Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had told Mr Pezeshkian that any future resignation would be accepted.
Mehdi Tabatabai, spokesman for Mr Pezeshkian's office, dismissed the reports as “baseless” and “pure fabrication”, and insisted that the President's resignation had never been under consideration.
He added that the reports were part of a broader effort to manipulate public perceptions of the government.
