War in Iran: regime hawks try to derail a possible agreement with the United States

The hardline faction, a fringe but vocal group with members in Parliament and a seat on the Supreme National Security Council, has openly opposed any concessions to Washington, using demonstrations, state media, and public and private statements as tools to try to thwart the agreement.

It is not yet clear when, if ever, a final deal will be announced. President Trump met for two hours with members of his Cabinet in the White House Situation Room on Friday, but postponed a final decision, according to a senior administration official. Iran’s top negotiator, General Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, stated on social media that Tehran distrusted Washington and that no steps would be taken before the other side acted first.

But In Iran the political struggle continues. State television, controlled by a hardline director, has exacerbated divisions in the country and portrayed the negotiations as a failure. On Monday, President Masoud Pezeshkian rebuked state television in a meeting with his top leaders, asking them to avoid sowing discord.

Pezeshkian said that even Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader assassinated on the first day of the war on February 28, “agreed that we should come to the negotiating table.” But now, he continued, “we are announcing that we should not negotiate.”

At a massive rally of hardliners in Tehran on Friday, large crowds waved flags and chanted resistance slogans. A state television reporter asked some attendees whether Iran should withdraw or continue fighting the United States and Israel. “We want them to be given a good punishment,” said one woman. “Stay firm, we are with you until the last drop of blood,” remarked another protester.

“Trump must know that Iran, as victor and conqueror, imposes the conditions,” Ebrahim Azizi, a conservative MP and chairman of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committees, said in a social media post on Friday.

Analysts close to the Iranian government say that the hardline faction represents a minority opinionboth among the general population and among officials. However, ignoring it risks alienating the part of the population that has been one of the most loyal defenders of the Islamic Republic throughout the political and social upheavals.

“This faction does not represent the majority of Iranians and has been marginalized from key decision-making; nuclear negotiations continue despite their disapproval,” Mehdi Rahmati, a political analyst in Tehran, said in a telephone interview. However, he added: “The system needs to come up with a plan to control them and keep them at bay, otherwise they could become a threat to Iran’s stability.”

Not even Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late previous leader, is immune to its wrath. On Thursday, hardline cleric and lawmaker Hamid Rasaee criticized Khamenei Jr. in a social media post titled: “Who is worthy of the supreme leadership?” The new supreme leader, who has been in hiding since the start of the war in late February, has expressed his support for the nuclear negotiating team in written statements.

Rasaee wrote that the prophet Noah had a son who was unfaithful and a rebellious black sheep, and that “family relationships do not necessarily guarantee righteousness.”

The comparison was quickly condemned by Iranian political figures and media, who accused him of undermining Ayatollah Khamenei’s credibility to settle political scores.

On Friday, the Rasaee retracted another post, claiming that malicious people had misinterpreted his comments.

Earlier during the negotiations, hardline politician Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of the National Security Council, wrote a letter to the ayatollah claiming that Iranian negotiators had been too conciliatory to the Americans when they met with Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad, according to two senior Iranian officials familiar with the letter. According to officials, he asked the supreme leader to intervene and set limits on the talks.

In political circles, this measure was interpreted as an attempt to weaken the negotiating team. Bagheri Kani, who was a nuclear negotiator in Iran’s previous administration, was also the only member of the National Security Council who refused to sign a joint letter in April, written by General Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Pezeshkian to the supreme leader, stating the need for an agreement with Trump.

The letter warned of the serious economic situation, the serious budget crisis of the government and the possibility of mass unrest, according to the two senior officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues.

Bagheri Kani not only did not sign the letter, but shared its contents with hardline members of Parliament, who in turn publicized the dispute. But Ayatollah Khamenei backed his negotiating team, two officials said, issuing supportive statements both privately and publicly.

On Thursday, Khamenei issued a new statement announcing the reopening of Parliament for the first time since the start of the war. In the statement, he urged all lawmakers to remain united and “refrain from meaningless political divisions and exacerbating social divisions.” He claimed that doing so would further the enemy’s plan to divide and rule.