Iran renews its unity message and security leadership under pressure
Pezeshkian's unity message and Mohsen Rezaee's security appointment show simultaneous changes in Iran's leadership amid sanctions, blockade, intermittent fighting and negotiations over Hormuz.
Geopolitics··Evening
Seven hours on the domestic agenda with the supreme leader
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview aired Monday on state broadcaster IRIB that he had spent nearly seven hours with Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. He said they discussed livelihoods, markets, employment, housing and the problems created by US sanctions. It is only the second meeting Pezeshkian has publicly described since Khamenei was appointed supreme leader in March. The president argued that all of the enemy's plans sought to create division and said the leadership's task was to prevent such divisions; he did not say where or when the meeting took place. The same day, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei repeated that Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States met Tehran's conditions. Iran wants the blockade of its ports lifted, compensation for war damage, sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets. The Associated Press notes that roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil normally passes through the strait. The call for domestic unity therefore comes amid economic and security pressures extending from household livelihoods to a strategic waterway.[1]
A former IRGC commander takes the top security post
At the centre of the change in Iran's security management is Mohsen Rezaee, 71. Al Jazeera reports that Rezaee was appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council on Sunday evening. He replaces Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who became a political adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei; the office had previously been held by Ali Larijani, who was assassinated in March. Rezaee commanded the IRGC from 1981 to 1997 and served on the Expediency Discernment Council. Analyst Abas Aslani told Al Jazeera that the appointment reflected a need for someone able to coordinate different government bodies and reach across factions. Analyst Mohsen Farkhani interpreted the change as a sign of a security doctrine moving towards deterrence based on punishment. Those are analysts' assessments, not an official doctrine announced by the appointed authorities. The change at the council comes while Iran and the United States continue bargaining over the Strait of Hormuz. The new secretary's long military and institutional background, alongside Pezeshkian's unity message, puts coordination among the state's security bodies in focus.[2]
Economic pressure alongside military strikes
Washington also says it is shifting the centre of pressure on Iran towards economic tools. In a Sunday interview with Axios, President Donald Trump said the United States was keeping its approach low-key, relying on a naval blockade in place since April and on sanctions while refraining from new military strikes. Trump claimed that Iran faced high inflation and difficulty paying its troops. Oil prices near 75 dollars a barrel are presented in the report as easing the burden on American consumers. A June ceasefire between the United States and Iran collapsed within weeks; fighting continues intermittently, with Iran striking US bases while Yemen's Houthis separately impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia. Iran's Foreign Ministry says Oman-mediated talks over Hormuz have reached their final stage, although Tehran says the waterway will not return to its pre-war arrangement. This external pressure proceeds at the same time as Pezeshkian's unity appeal and the security council appointment. The reports show Iran's leadership dealing simultaneously with domestic economic problems, institutional coordination and a regional security agenda.[3], [1], [2]
