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Iran on Sunday dismissed the purported resignation of President Masoud Pezeshkian, accusing the “disreputable foreign network” of rumor-mongering.
In a post on X, Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, the presidency’s deputy head of communications and information, called the claim “a continuation of previous ridiculous media games.”
Tabatabaei stated that President Pezeshkian “will not retreat from serving the people,” just as the country will not step back from the path of solidarity and resistance.
“They have published their own wishful thinking in place of reality,” he wrote. “They will take their wish to shatter the unity of the Iranian nation to the grave.”
Similarly, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, citing a government source, debunked Pezeshkian’s alleged preparedness to step down immediately.
According to Iran International, Pezeshkian submitted an official letter of resignation to the Office of the Supreme Leader, wherein he blamed the IRGC for exerting influence.
Pezeshkian complained he and the government have been excluded from the processes of major decisions by hardline factions within the IRGC, who currently control state affairs.
The President reportedly told Mojtaba Khamenei that the circumstances have left him unable to run the government effectively and would rather leave the position.
IRGC has limited presidential powers as well as executive control, as the military body moves to expand its authority and ensure its interests are factored into the deal to end the war.
Tasnim has hinted Iran will make its own revisions if President Donald Trump alters the draft agreement, declaring Tehran will only accept agreeable terms and is ready for the possibility of no deal.
Intelligence officer and former MI6 chief Richard Moore has credited China for Russia’s continued military operations and resistance in the four-year Ukraine war.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Moore observed many appear to be oblivious to Beijing’s support for Moscow in their analysis of the combat.
The diplomat said the focus of Russia’s external assistance and headlines has been about the Iranian shahed drones and troops sent by North Korea.
“Without China, Russia would have lost. It’s as simple as that,” Moore emphasized. “The thing that keeps Putin in Ukraine is Chinese support.”
The former Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service head listed such aid as Chinese chemicals and components that go into Russia’s artillery and drones.
More, now a senior advisor in the private sector, insists “the most urgent issue is Ukraine,” if the international community intends to push back against China and Russia.
He, however, highlighted the dominance of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Ukrainian conflict, saying 80-90% of battlefield casualties are caused by drones.
Moore led MI6 from 2020 until he stepped down in September 2025. He was succeeded by Blaise Metrewel, the first female head of the agency in its history.
Russian Pressident, Vladimir Putin declared a two-day ceasefire in Ukraine for May 8 and 9, timed to Russia’s World War Two victory commemorations, and within hours Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded with his own proposed pause — starting earlier, on the night of May 5 to 6, and framed in language that turned Putin’s announcement into a political rebuke rather than a diplomatic convergence.
Read Also: May 9 Truce Declared By Russia With Threat Of Retaliation
The dueling ceasefire proposals capture the fundamental problem with where the Russia-Ukraine war stands more than three years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion: both sides can announce a pause in fighting without either side trusting the other to observe it, and the history of the past month makes that skepticism entirely reasonable. Russia declared a brief ceasefire for Orthodox Easter last month. Each side accused the other of violating it before the ink had dried.
Putin’s announcement came through Russia’s Defense Ministry, which posted the truce on Telegram and said Moscow expected Ukraine to follow suit. It framed the two-day pause around the 81st anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany — May 9 being Russia’s most significant national holiday, the day the Soviet Union signed Germany’s surrender in 1945. The ministry said Russian forces would take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the commemorations.
