Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in good health and in full control of the country, in a Fox News interview reported by Russia’s TASS news agency, in which he said he met Khamenei face to face for seven hours about a month to a month and a half ago.

In the same interview, Pezeshkian denied that Tehran directs the battle plans of Yemen’s Houthis, saying “the Houthis are responsible for their own actions” and take no orders from Tehran, according to the Middle East Eye. On the June memorandum of understanding (MoU), Pezeshkian said the text outlined a temporary ceasefire before talks collapsed, according to News18.