When Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian made a very brief public appearance last week to greet citizens at an anti-Israel rally, another member of his family was also present.His son Youssef Pezeshkian, 44, who serves as an adviser to the president, had not spoken to his father since the war began and the country’s leadership went underground. He was hoping to catch a glimpse of her. In a diary posted on his Telegram channel, he regretted that it was of no use.The son, a college professor, kept a daily diary of the war, which includes both personal and political thoughts. This diary offers a rare glimpse of what Iran’s political leaders were like – and sheds light on – during the war. And perhaps unintentionally, Youssef sometimes takes his readers into the arguments and deliberations of Iran’s leadership.While Iran’s leaders have projected defiance in public statements, the younger Pezeshkian writes about the fear beneath the facade as several leaders have been targeted and killed in Israeli bombings. “I think some political figures are panicking,” he wrote in early March, on the sixth day of the war. “People are stronger and more resilient than our pundits and political leaders imagine. We have to keep reminding ourselves that defeat will happen only when we feel defeated.”He wrote that he and his two siblings could not wait until the remaining two years of his presidency were over so “we can all get back to normal life”.As the war enters its fourth week, with many leaders killed, all who remain have retreated to what they hope will prove to be safe places. Yusuf wrote in his diary that protecting the lives of officers had become a top priority for the country. It is an honor to stop targeted killings, he said.Yusuf has posted diary entries on his Telegram page almost every day since the war began, a practice he has continued for at least a year. He has linked some entries to his other official social media pages like Instagram.Yousef recalled attending a meeting with government officials in the first week of the war, in which disagreements about strategy emerged. “The biggest serious disagreement we have is: How long should we fight?” He has written. “Forever? Until Israel is destroyed and America withdraws? Until Iran is completely destroyed and we surrender? We have to study different scenarios.”Yusuf did not respond to a request for comment. Two Iranian officials and a former senior official who knew him and worked with him in his father’s administration said the social media pages were authentic and that he had written the entries. Iranian media have occasionally mentioned his writings. In the diaries, Yusuf says that he keeps receiving messages about the war. Sometimes, he said, “the messages tell us to surrender and return power back to the people,” a notion he dismissed as “ignorant and delusional.”“He did say that he is worried that Iran’s attacks on Arab countries could have the opposite effect. He wrote, “It is very sad that in order to defend ourselves we have to attack American targets in friendly countries.” “I don’t know if they will understand our situation.”Yusuf defended his father when he apologized to Arab countries for the attacks. “Apologizing to neighbors is a moral duty,” he wrote. He said that there is no fault of the people living in Arab countries, but their lives have been ruined. But in his diary he said that unless Iran could stop targeted killings, “we will lose the war”.