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As indirect talks between the US and Iran began in Oman on Friday, Vice President JD Vance’s comments earlier in the week raised questions about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s absence from the talks, creating a key dilemma for Washington – the man with ultimate authority in Tehran is not sitting at the negotiating table.
In the interview, Vance said, “It’s a very strange country to do diplomacy in, when you can’t even talk to the person who’s in charge of the country. That makes it all the more complicated… It’s bizarre that we can’t talk to the actual leadership of the country. It really makes diplomacy very, very difficult,” he said on Megan Kelly’s podcast.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei greets the audience during a speech in Tehran, Iran on November 3, 2025. During his address marking the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, known as the “National Day of the Fight Against Global Arrogance”, Khamenei said that cooperation between Tehran and Washington is impossible as long as the US continues to support Israel and maintain military bases in the region. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
supreme leader has no equal
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, has served as Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and remains the country’s supreme political and religious authority, with ultimate control over military, security and strategic decisions. The concentration of power means that any diplomatic outcome will ultimately have to go through him.
Sina Azodi, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Washington University, told Fox News Digital that Khamenei’s authority stems from his direct control over Iran’s main power centers. “He is very powerful because he is the commander in chief of the armed forces and appoints the heads of the IRGC, the Artesh (conventional army), the judiciary and other important institutions.”
Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei appeared publicly for the first time in weeks amid fresh US threats. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader Credit/Associated Press)
Azodi said protocol and hierarchy also explain Khamenei’s absence from the talks. “Iranian diplomats are very firm about protocol – since other countries do not have equivalent ranks, they do not participate in any negotiations because their ‘equal’ ranks do not exist,” Azodi said. “Even when foreign heads of state visit them, there is only the Iranian flag, and foreign flags are not allowed.”
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, President Donald Trump’s special representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff and US negotiator Jared Kushner meet ahead of US-Iran talks in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on February 6, 2026. (Oman Foreign Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Iranian sources familiar with internal discussions described Khamenei as having a legacy mentality at this stage of his life. “The supreme leader sees confrontation with Washington as defining his historical role and believes Iran could retaliate against US interests in the region. Khamenei is not focused on personal risk and sees strategic confrontation as part of preserving his legacy,” a Middle Eastern source told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Khamenei remains the decisive figure in Iran’s system, even as the regime faces domestic and foreign pressure.
“He wields great influence in Iran but also wields the biggest veto in Iran’s political hierarchy.”
“He has a lot of influence in Iran but he also wields the biggest veto in Iran’s political hierarchy,” Ben Taleblu said.
“The Iranian strategy … is to increase the costs of war in the enemy’s mind,” he added, describing a system that signals a willingness to negotiate as well as a readiness for confrontation.
He warned that “governments that are fearful, lethal, and weak can still be dangerous,” and said Tehran believes threatening U.S. assets could prevent a broader war, even though such an escalation would risk triggering a strong U.S. response.
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In this photo released by the official website of the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stands saluting Army Air Force personnel at the beginning of his meeting in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. Khamenei is defending the “Death to America” slogans that are standard at anti-US rallies across Iran, but says the slogan is aimed at America’s leaders, not its people. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“It’s very difficult to say what Khamenei’s mindset is, but I think he, along with other senior officials, think that the current conflict is not an isolated incident, but a continuation of the June 2025 conflict and the recent protests, which he has called ‘an American coup,'” Azodi told Fox News Digital.
“I think they believe that the United States is definitely behind regime change and that it must be opposed at all costs,” he said.
Inside Iran, frustration with Khamenei is becoming increasingly visible, according to a journalist reporting from inside the country.
Trump says Iranian supreme leader Khamenei should be ‘very concerned’ amid tensions
Cars are burned on the street during a protest over the fall in the value of the currency in Tehran, Iran on January 8, 2026. (Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
“What people want more than anything is for Khamenei to die… I hear it every day, wherever I go – why doesn’t he die?” the journalist told Fox News Digital.
“He is regarded as God’s representative, while the leaders of enemy states are seen as Satan’s representatives, which is why he never meets them.”
“You just open the Iranians’ Twitter…the tweet is, why not die? And everyone knows who we are talking about. So there is a nation waiting for him to die.”
The journalist said that many Iranians no longer believe that political reform is possible and instead see generational change as the only turning point.
Iranian worshipers raise their hands in a sign of unity with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-Israel rally to condemn Israeli attacks on Iran in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025. (Morteza Nicoubzal/Nurfoto via Getty Images)
Mehdi Ghadimi, an Iranian journalist in exile, told Fox News Digital that, “Islamic governments consider themselves obliged to impose Islamic law throughout the world. They have hatred towards Iranians and Jews, whom they consider enemies of Islam,” he explained, “In such a structure, the leader is seen more than a political ruler; he is seen as a representative of God, while the leaders of enemy states are seen as representatives of Satan, that’s what.” The reason is that he never meets them. If there is any negotiation or compromise, his image will be tarnished in the eyes of his supporters.”
He added, “For this reason, groups labeled ‘liberal’, ‘reformist’ or ‘pro-West’ are created so that the West can negotiate with them,” Ghadimi said. “Nobody within the structure of the Islamic Republic thinks about anything other than defeating the Western world and establishing Islamic dominance globally. Diplomats presented as moderates to Western politicians have been tasked with using diplomacy to buy time for Khamenei.”
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The talks are taking place amid heightened regional tensions, US military deployments and unresolved disputes over Iran’s nuclear program and missile capabilities.
Regional analysts say the central challenge for the US remains unchanged. Diplomats can negotiate, but the final decision depends on one person – a leader built on decades of confrontation with the United States, who is focused on regime survival and determined to preserve his legacy, even as Iran enters a new round of negotiations.
