TEHRAN, Aug. 11 -- Mojtaba Khamenei appeared in public with President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday for the first time in five months, ending the longest absence from public view the Supreme Leader has maintained since taking office following his father's death in February.

The meeting, announced through a statement on the Supreme Leader's Telegram channel, was described as focused on the current state of Iran's finances, energy sector, and military posture. Khamenei described the ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States as the "Third Imposed War," a phrase that places the fighting in a historical lineage alongside the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 to 1988, which official Iranian historiography has consistently described as imposed on Ir...