Iran Hardliners Revolt Against U.S. Nuclear Talks

Following three weeks of ceasefire implementation, internal divisions within Iran's political elite have resurfaced, with hardliners criticizing parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf for leading nuclear negotiations with the United States without building consensus first. Ghalibaf met with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance in Pakistan earlier this month, drawing sharp opposition from the Paydari faction, an influential ultraconservatives group whose members accused the negotiating team of deviating from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei's guidelines. "Negotiations are now harmful and no one should participate in them," said Mahmoud Nabavian, a Paydari-affiliated lawmaker who traveled with the Iranian delegation, calling the inclusion of nuclear issues in talks a "strategic error." Despite these challenges, 261 of Iran's 290 parliament members signed a statement supporting Ghalibaf and other negotiators, though notable Paydari members were conspicuously absent from the list. The internal rift has been complicated by Khamenei's prolonged absence from public life since the war began on February 28, reportedly due to injuries sustained during attacks that killed his predecessor. The uncertainty surrounding Khamenei, combined with the assassination of experienced leaders, has left a new generation of officials managing what Nournews, a security-affiliated outlet, called "the most delicate moment in Iran's history." U.S. President Donald Trump seized on this situation, declaring there was "tremendous confusion within the 'leadership' of Iran" and that "nobody knows who is in charge." Iran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the conflict to the United States, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing the offer as "better than we expected." Tehran insists any resumption of talks must be preceded by the lifting of the U.S. blockade on the strait, along with guarantees allowing Iran to collect maritime tolls, retain its uranium enrichment rights, and avoid transferring highly enriched uranium reserves to Washington. Iranian officials, including reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, have maintained that the country's various power centers remain coordinated, declaring on social media that "in our Iran there are no hardliners or moderates. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries." A second round of talks scheduled for last weekend in Pakistan collapsed after Iran demanded the Hormuz blockade be lifted before discussions could proceed.