"Surrender? Ignorant Delusion" Iranian President's Son Posts a 'War Diary' on Telegram

According to Financial News, Yousef Pezeshkian (44), the eldest son of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, has been posting highly personal reflections on Telegram that read almost like a "war diary."
On March 20 local time, United States daily The New York Times (NYT) reported that Yousef has been sharing his personal and political thoughts on Telegram every day during the war. Yousef holds a PhD in physics and works as a university professor, while also serving as a political adviser to his father, President Pezeshkian.
On the sixth day after the war broke out, in early March, Yousef wrote, "Some politicians seem to be in a state of panic," expressing the fear surrounding the situation in which several figures, including Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, and Ali Larijani, secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran (SNSC), had already been killed in Israeli airstrikes.
He continued, "The people are far stronger and more resilient than experts and political leaders. We must constantly remind ourselves that true defeat only comes when we feel defeated," noting that protecting the lives of senior officials has become the state's top priority. He added that preventing targeted killings has now become "a matter of honor."
Yousef also revealed that, during a government officials' meeting in the first week of the war, there were disagreements over how to conduct the war. "Our biggest difference of opinion was over the question of 'how long should we fight?'" he wrote. "Forever? Until Israel is destroyed and the United States withdraws? Until the Islamic Republic of Iran completely collapses and we surrender? We have to examine a range of scenarios."
Yousef is said not to have seen his father since February 28, when United States and Israeli airstrikes began and Iran's leadership disappeared from public view out of concern for their safety. He did not hide his worries about his father, writing that he earnestly hopes the remaining two years of his father's term will pass quickly so that "we can all return to a normal life."
He also explained that through Telegram and other channels, he constantly receives war-related messages not only from friends and acquaintances but also from complete strangers. Some, he wrote, are "messages demanding that we surrender and return power to the people," which he dismissed as "ignorant and delusional talk."
Yousef further voiced concern over the fact that, in retaliation against the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran is attacking neighboring Arab countries. "It is sad that, in order to defend ourselves, we have to strike United States military bases located in the territory of our allies," he wrote, adding, "I do not know whether they will understand our situation or not."
Yousef did not respond to NYT's request for comment, but current and former Iranian officials who know him personally confirmed that the posts are indeed his. He has been posting diary-style entries on Telegram for about a year, and since the outbreak of the current war he has been updating them almost daily.
bng@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Hee-sun Reporter