Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reportedly submitted a resignation letter to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, accusing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of effectively hijacking large portions of the government. The letter, first reported by Iran International citing an anonymous official, paints a picture of a president who has lost the ability to govern on his own terms.
The resignation has not been officially confirmed, and conflicting signals from within Tehran suggest the situation remains fluid.
What happened inside Tehran
The IRGC, led by chief Ahmad Vahidi, has reportedly been functioning as a de facto ruling authority within Iran’s political structure. Since around March and April of this year, the military organization has blocked key presidential appointments, including nominees for intelligence minister.
Pezeshkian has not been quiet about his frustrations. In May, he publicly referred to the IRGC’s conduct as “madness,” a word choice that, in the careful lexicon of Iranian politics, is roughly the equivalent of flipping over the chessboard.