Riyadh warned Tehran to clinch deal to avoid Israeli strike - Reuters

The softened tone of Tehran’s statements on nuclear negotiations with the United States, along with unprecedented remarks from media commentators, suggests Iran may be open to a "suspension for suspension" agreement with Washington.

Except for state television, the hardline daily Kayhan, and a few low-profile newspapers, most Iranian media outlets this week have discussed “positive signals from Washington” or even “an imminent final deal.”

Outlets frequently cite what is seen in Tehran as optimism in US coverage.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he advised Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch a strike on Iran, saying a deal with Tehran was “very close.”

Tehran-based Rouydad24 noted that even traditionally skeptical figures—such as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief Rafael Grossi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—have acknowledged the possibility of a US-Iran agreement within weeks.

Early signs of a shift

The clearest signal yet of Iran’s openness came on Wednesday, when prominent lawmaker and National Security Committee member Abolfazl Zohrehvand told the conservative Nameh News that Tehran could suspend uranium enrichment in exchange for partial sanctions relief.

“Omani officials are telling us: Let’s try this,” Zohrevand said, recalling Iran’s acceptance of a similar deal under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the early 2000s.

President Masoud Pezeshkian also praised Oman’s mediation role during his visit to Muscat on Tuesday, calling the country the only active intermediary that Iran trusts—another nod to potential flexibility.

This comes along with hints that Tehran “may reconsider its longstanding ban on US nuclear inspectors,” as part of an agreement with Washington, according to Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami.

Interim deal to avoid war

The pro-reform daily Arman Melli highlighted the apparent shift in tone, suggesting that a “halt for halt” arrangement might be in the works—one often called an “interim agreement” by officials, perhaps to make it more palatable for hardliners.

But nothing is done until it is done, the paper warned.

“Making a deal is as likely as is a sudden change that might stop all negotiations without much explanation,” it wrote, asserting that technical-level discussions are ongoing alongside secret bilateral talks.

Prominent reformist figure Mohammad Sadeq Javadi Hesar told Etemad newspaper that the government’s flexibility aligns with Iran’s national interests.

Likewise, reformist commentator Hamid Reza Jalaipour told Khabar Online that Iran cannot strengthen ties with Russia and China without first mending its fraught relationship with the US.

He predicted that a deal could marginalize the hardline minority who push anti-American rhetoric, call for Israel’s destruction, and stricter control at home..

Tehran, he noted, appears to have shifted its motto from “no negotiations, no war” to “negotiations to avoid war.”

With the aim of infiltrating phones and computers to gather sensitive intelligence for the assassinations, phishing attempts targeted senior Israeli security officials, politicians, journalists and academics.

The attacks were carried out via fake Google Meet links, individually tailored to each target, the Shin Bet said.

There has been a marked rise in attacks in recent months, according to a statement from Shin Bet which said had aimed to gather information such as home addresses, personal relationships and routine locations.

The information would then be handed to operatives on the ground in Israel, as growing numbers of civilians are being recruited by Tehran in plots targeting the country's top political and military echelons, in addition to highly sensitive sites.

Oded Ailam, a former head of counter-terrorism at Mossad, wrote in Israel Hayom: "Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has discarded the slow, resource-heavy traditions of classical espionage: no more lengthy vetting, grueling training, or elaborate cover stories.”

"Instead, they’ve embraced a model that’s raw, direct, and disturbingly effective. Through aggressive mass campaigns on social media, thousands of Israelis are being approached."

He said that via messages like “Want to earn some easy cash?”, vulnerable communities are now being targeted by Iran to carry out work which until now, had been unheard of in the Jewish state.

But in the wake of the Gaza war, there have been dozens recruited, as Tehran infiltrates the digital landscape.

"This is Iran’s version of digital marketing applied to espionage: blanket targeting, no filters. And like any marketing effort, only a tiny fraction need to respond for the campaign to succeed.”

"To Tehran, even a one percent success rate from a thousand messages is worth it. It’s a chillingly rational approach: volume will eventually produce the quality they seek. And sadly, it works," Ailam said.

Israel Hayom quoted a Shin Bet official who said: "We are witnessing continued, relentless efforts by hostile actors as part of the campaign Iran is waging against Israel.

"The public must remain vigilant and cautious, these cyberattacks can be prevented through awareness, skepticism and proper online conduct, particularly by avoiding clicks on unidentified links."

Earlier this month, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said a spy plot against him had been thwarted in what Israel says is the 20th Iran-backed operation thwarted in the country since the Gaza war began.

Two Israeli suspects, Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, both 25 and childhood friends, were arrested at the end of April accused of intelligence-gathering missions and placing explosives in the community where Katz lives.

The case is the latest in a string of plots foiled since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, with dozens of Israelis allegedly hired by Iranian operatives to carry out operations targeting the country’s top political and military echelons.

Other targets have included the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar.

In a letter to the United Nations Children's Fund, a copy of which was seen by Iran International, Ebadi wrote: “The Iran branch of your organization has been active for years. However, for reasons unclear to me and my compatriots, it has failed to take effective measures to fulfill its legal obligations.”

She said UNICEF’s Iran office has remained silent despite repeated reports of juvenile executions, violations in healthcare and education, and harmful content in school textbooks.

“Numerous issues exist that UNICEF should have addressed in Iran. Yet we have only witnessed silence from this organization,” she wrote.

She also condemned what she described as the Islamic Republic’s use of children to pressure political and civil activists.

“Children are unjustly imprisoned under baseless allegations to coerce their parents into silence or collaboration with the government,” she wrote.

Ebadi cited the summons of 17-year-old Nima Khandan, son of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and jailed activist Reza Khandan, over what she said was a baseless charge of insulting an officer at Tehran's Evin Prison.

"The initiation of this case based on false accusations is solely intended to harass this family of civil activists and to force them into silence and cooperation," Ebadi wrote.

Ebadi called on UNICEF Iran to uphold its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a signatory.

The Truckers and Drivers Union said on Thursday that strikes had expanded to over 141 cities, vowing to continue until demands are met.

“This unity and solidarity is the result of your determination,” the union wrote in a statement. “Thanks to all the drivers, small freight operators, teachers, retirees, workers and free citizens who joined us. Our path is clear and we will persist.”

Truck drivers first walked off the job on May 22 to protest surging fuel costs, a lack of insurance coverage, and stagnant freight rates. Despite efforts by authorities to suppress the action—including arrests and interrogations in multiple provinces—footage from cities such as Bandar Abbas and Marivan shows major highways emptied of heavy vehicles.

Strikes go beyond occupational grievances

Over 180 rights and student organizations aligned with Iran's Woman, Life, Freedom movement announced their backing for the truckers.

“We do not see this as a purely professional dispute,” they said in a joint statement released on Thursday. “It is part of a broader political and nationwide struggle to reclaim livelihood and dignity.”

They urged other sectors—teachers, factory and service workers, healthcare staff, shopkeepers, students—to form coordination councils and join the movement through synchronized action.

Student groups from Tehran, Kordestan, and Isfahan also lent support, along with teachers’ collectives and grassroots youth organizations.

Iran Labor Confederation, based abroad, called the strike emblematic of systemic repression.

“The truckers’ strike is a response to persistent economic abuse and denial of independent union rights,” the group wrote to the International Labor Organization. It demanded the expulsion of Iranian state delegates from the ILO and the release of detained labor activists.

Iran’s freight industry is unusually fragmented. According to official data, more than 550,000 drivers operate 433,000 trucks, but just 7% are owned by companies. The remaining 93% are controlled by individual owner-operators, making collective pressure harder to dissolve.

“Dispersed ownership is exactly why this strike is so hard to break,” said Firooz Khodaei, head of the truckers union. He confirmed the government has temporarily suspended a tiered diesel pricing plan and invited trucker representatives to participate in policy talks.

Although neither Iranian nor Omani authorities have officially announced the proposals' content, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said they are currently under review.

During his meeting with the Sultan of Oman this week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian praised Muscat’s “active and constructive role in indirect negotiations,” reaffirming that “Iran fully trusts Oman.”

Observers widely believe that Pezeshkian’s visit went beyond the expansion of bilateral ties, as publicly stated, and was primarily focused on Oman’s initiatives.

Consortium or Freeze?

Ahead of Pezeshkian’s visit, conservative lawmaker Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani revealed to Didban Iran news website that Oman had proposed either forming a consortium with Arab nations or implementing a period of freeze in enrichment.

Ardestani, who serves on the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said Iran had not accepted either plan, warning: “Past experience has shown that the other side tends to make additional demands after receiving concessions.”

The interview was later removed from the website. The outlet may have been instructed by security bodies to remove the interview because Ardestani claimed Iran could produce several nuclear bombs — a remark viewed as highly provocative.

According to media reports and analysts, the proposed consortium could include regional countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, and the United States.

The arrangement would aim to supply Iran with enriched uranium for civilian use in exchange for partial sanctions relief on Iran’s oil exports, central bank, and the shipping sector.

“Members of this consortium could monitor the process and report on it in order to build US trust,” Seyed Jalal Sadatian, former Iranian ambassador to the UK, told Shargh Daily on Tuesday.

“Evidence suggests that the Omani foreign minister is emphasizing this idea, stating that it is the best way to prove the civilian nature of Iran’s nuclear program without forcing Iran to completely halt uranium enrichment — which has always been a red line for Tehran. Furthermore, Iran insists that any action taken must be step-by-step and reciprocal,” he added.

The consortium idea had previously been floated by former Iranian nuclear negotiator Seyed Hossein Mousavian in a post on X ahead of the April 11 talks in Muscat.

Others have also discussed the possibility of a temporary freeze lasting from six months to three years.

“A temporary agreement would mean that Iran suspends uranium enrichment for a limited period, and in return, the United States eases some of the economic restrictions on Iran,” Iran newspaper quoted political analyst Ebrahim Mottaghi as saying.

What Might Tehran Accept?

Iranian media and observers have widely discussed both claimed proposals, ruling out one or both.

“What has been emphasized by Tehran so far is that it will not accept any consortium and, based on its legal rights under the NPT, it will not relinquish uranium enrichment carried out independently and on Iranian soil,” an editorial published by hardline Kayhan newspaper on Tuesday stated.

The idea of a three-year halt in enrichment “is also unacceptable to our country; even a short-term suspension of enrichment is a trick and a trap that must be strictly avoided,” the editorial added.

The IRGC-affiliated Javan newspaper, too, has dismissed the idea of a three-year freeze as “a unilateral proposal, not a middle-ground one.

Mottaghi, however, told Iran newspaper that a temporary agreement appeared to be more viable for both sides. “The reality is that Iran faces fewer challenges in accepting this option in comparison to the United States’ unilateral approaches, which are often marked by signs of maximalism.”

In a commentary for Ham-Mihan newspaper, political commentator Ahmad Zohdabadi argued that the consortium proposal may have lost traction due to disputes over its location, which echo the broader disagreement over recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium on its soil.

“Omani officials have taken on an extremely difficult task. Proposing a solution that simultaneously satisfies Iran, the United States, and other stakeholders appears highly improbable,” he wrote.