The son-in-law of Iran’s former president has said that a recent meeting between Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei was “normal and intimate”, rejecting rumors to the contrary.

In an interview with Sharq newspaper published on Sunday, Kambiz Mehdizadeh made the comments in reaction to numerous reports about the content and tone of the meeting, Rouhani’s first since his term ended in early August.

News of the meeting that was disclosed by Mohammad Mohajeri, an editorial-board member of Khabar Online website, sparking a lot of speculations and interpretations on the Iranian political scene.

Some sources said that during the meeting Rouhani warned the Supreme Leader over the perils of delaying a nuclear deal with the West and urged establishing relations with the United States before Iran’s economic crisis endangers the regime.

The rumors that Mehdizadeh was rejecting were about remarks by Iranian conservative political analyst Abbas Salimi Namin, who reportedly said Rouhani had asked Khamenei to appoint him as a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, but the leader rejected it.

The Council was originally set up to resolve differences or conflicts between the parliament and the Guardian Council, but it is primarily an important advisory body with some supervisory powers whose members are chosen by Khamenei every five years.