By Steve Goldstein
This photo provided by the Iranian Presidency shows (from left) Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and National Security Council head Mohsen Rezaei during their meeting with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, Pakistan’s army chief and Turkish intelligence chief in Tehran on October 26, 2026.
To the outside world, it is not even certain that Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is alive.
But whether he was or not, Iranian news agencies reported on a meeting Khamenei had with Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, in which he reportedly called for an end to “the current state of neither war nor peace.”
To be clear, these remarks indicated that the deal should be made on Iran’s terms. One of the clauses, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency, is to “guarantee national and regional security by maintaining control of the Strait of Hormuz.” That may not sit well with the Trump administration, which is escorting oil tankers, at great cost and peril, through the contested waterway.
The word “nuclear” does not appear once in IRNA’s reporting. So there is a long way to go between these comments and any agreement between the United States and Iran.
That said, Khamenei’s desire to end the conflict has not yet been expressed. And it follows a four-way meeting between Iranian, Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials that was also held on Tuesday.
U.S. stock market futures have hit session highs, but not massively, with the S&P 500 contract (ES00) recently up 0.3%. Oil futures (CL00) fell 1%. The 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y fell 1 basis point.
-Steve Goldstein
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10/27/26 0745ET
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