Peshkian has threatened to resign 28 times, Khamenei warns of accepting it if he does it again

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has warned President Massoud Peshkian that if he threatens or offers to resign again, it will be accepted outright.
The explosive remarks by a marital relative of the Supreme Leader have sparked a strong reaction and heat in Iranian politics. However, Peshkian’s office has rejected the claim as a “baseless and shameless lie,” Iran International reported.
In a video released on Monday (August 3), senior Shia cleric Mohammad-Bagher Kharaji (whose sister is married to Mojtaba Khamenei’s brother) claimed that President Peshkian has threatened to resign 28 times so far. But he backed down after the Supreme Leader’s final signal.
Kharazmi quoted the Supreme Leader as saying, “If he (Pejeshkian) proposes to resign again, I will approve it. I will write ‘approved’ below and the matter will end there.” Kharazmi claimed that Pejeshkian is no longer courageous after this warning.
It is worth noting that, according to some previous reports, Pejeshkian submitted a formal resignation letter to the Supreme Leader’s office in May 2026. In it, he complained that his government was being kept out of policy decisions and that the extremist Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had taken over state affairs.
Reaction from the President’s Office and reformists-
Deputy Minister of Media and Information to the President, Mehdi Tabatabai, completely rejected Kharazmi’s claim in a message on the social media platform Xe (formerly Twitter). “A sinister alliance of the defeated and extremists has targeted national unity,” he wrote. “Two years after their defeat at the ballot box, they are still seeking revenge on the people. They have become puppets in the hands of the country’s enemies.”
Presidential advisor Ali-Asghar Shafian called Kharrazi’s comments “fictional stories” and said Kharrazi had no meeting or contact with Mojtaba Khamenei.
He said such rumors were being spread by a group angry about the Iran-US memorandum of understanding. On the other hand, reformist political activist Ahmad Zaydabadi described it as an attempt to increase political tension.
Kharrazi made several other sensational claims. The Supreme Leader is set to replace Mohammad-Bagher Zulqader, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, with his military adviser Mohsen Rezaei.
He also claimed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been warned not to threaten to withdraw from diplomatic talks and has been ordered not to interfere in the settlement talks.
The main focus of the dispute: Iran-US agreement –
The current conflict between the Pezeshkian government and extremist forces is the Iran-US memorandum of understanding signed on June 17. The extremists claim that the agreement is contrary to Khamenei’s policies. On the other hand, the president said that his government took this historic step with the consent of the Supreme Leader after the approval of more than 75 percent of the members of the Security Council.