While indirect talks between the US and Iran began in Oman on Friday, comments from Vice President JD Vance earlier this week questioning Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s absence from the talks have raised a core dilemma for Washington: the person with ultimate authority in Tehran is not at the negotiating table.
In the interview, Vance said, “It’s a very strange country to do diplomacy with, when you can’t even talk to the person in charge of the country. That makes this all much more complicated… It’s bizarre that we can’t just talk to the actual leadership of the country. It makes diplomacy really, really difficult,” he said on Megyn Kelly’s podcast.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Blames TRUMP for Increasingly Intense Demonstrations
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei waves to the audience during a speech in Tehran, Iran, on November 3, 2025. During his speech marking the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, known as the “National Day of the Struggle against Global Arrogance”, Khamenei stated that cooperation between Tehran and Washington is impossible as long as the US continues to support Israel and maintain military bases in the region. (Press Agency of Iranian Leader/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Supreme Leader has no equals
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and remains the country’s highest political and religious authority, with ultimate control over military, security and strategic decisions. That concentration of power means that any diplomatic outcome must ultimately go through him.
Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei appears in public for the first time in weeks with new American threats. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader Credit/Associated Press)
Azodi added that protocol and hierarchy also explain Khamenei’s absence from the negotiations. “Iranians are very adamant about diplomatic protocols – because other countries do not have the same rank, he does not participate in negotiations because his ‘equal’ rank does not exist,” Azodi said. “Even when foreign heads of state visit him, 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“He exerts great influence in Iran, but also exercises the greatest veto in Iran’s political hierarchy”
“He wields great influence in Iran, but also wields the greatest veto in Iran’s political hierarchy,” Ben Taleblu said.
He added: “The Iranian strategy… is to raise the cost of war in the adversary’s mind,” he said, describing a system that signals a willingness to talk while preparing for confrontation.
He warned that “regimes that are afraid, deadly and weak can still be dangerous,” and said Tehran may believe that threatening U.S. assets could deter a broader war, even if such an escalation provokes a stronger U.S. response.
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In this photo released by the official website of the Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stands as Army Air Force personnel salute at the start of their rally in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, February 8, 2019. Khamenei defends “Death to America” chants that are standard at anti-American rallies across Iran, but says the chant is aimed at US leaders and not the people. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
“I think he thinks the US is absolutely looking for regime change and that must be resisted at all costs,” he added.
Within Iran, frustration with Khamenei has become increasingly visible, according to a journalist reporting from the country.
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Cars burn in a street during a protest against the collapse of the currency in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. (Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
“He is seen as God’s representative, while leaders of enemy states are seen as representing Satan, and that is why he never meets them.”
“You just open the Iranians’ Twitter… the tweet is: why don’t you die? And everyone knows who we’re talking about. So a nation is waiting for its death.”
The journalist said many Iranians no longer believe 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 Israel’s attacks on Iran, in central Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
He continued: “For this reason, groups labeled as ‘moderate’, ‘reformist’ or ‘pro-Western’ are created so that the West can negotiate with them,” Ghadimi added. “No one within the structure of the Islamic Republic is thinking of anything other than defeating the Western world and establishing Islamic dominance worldwide. The diplomats who are presented to Western politicians as moderates are tasked with using diplomacy to buy time for Khamenei.”
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The negotiations come amid heightened regional tensions, U.S. 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 rests with one man: a leader shaped by decades of confrontation with the United States, focused on regime survival and determined to preserve his legacy even as Iran begins a new round of talks.
