Iran International
A senior cleric’s claim that Iran’s Supreme Leader endorsed new indirect talks with Washington has raised questions about divisions in Tehran, after Ali Khamenei himself appeared to rule out negotiations in a recent speech.
“The principle of negotiation, even in an indirect form with the United States, was endorsed by the Leader after the war,” said Abdolhossein Khosropanah, Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Days earlier, on August 24, Khamenei had struck a very different tone, eschewing talks and accusing Washington of seeking Iran’s “surrender.”
The veteran theocrat called the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program “unsolvable” and vowed the Islamic Republic would never bow to US pressure.
Khosropanah’s apparently conflicting citation surprised many. “Why would an official from a cultural body comment on national security?” analyst Damoon Mohammadi told Iran International.
Khamenei, he suggested, may have deliberately floated the idea through an unlikely figure to test domestic reaction.
The contrasting statements underscore intensifying infighting over Iran’s future course.
With the stakes raised by the 12-day war with Israel and the looming prospect of UN sanctions snapping back, Tehran’s factions are split between those urging pragmatic engagement and hardliners who insist any compromise would mean capitulation.
Moderates push diplomacy
President Masoud Pezeshkian has hinted at cautious engagement, despite heavy criticism at home.
Meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, he said Iran was ready for indirect dialogue with Washington so long as its nuclear rights were recognized.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei echoed that line, saying Tehran would reinstate IAEA inspections and reduce enrichment to 3.67% if its sovereign right to enrichment were respected.
Hardliners resist
Former negotiator Saeed Jalili remains fiercely opposed, likening pro-diplomacy figures in early August to the Israelites who worshipped the golden calf in Moses’ absence—a possible jab at officials emboldened by Khamenei’s limited public appearances since the war.
Ultra-conservative commentator Mohammadsadegh Shahbazi wrote on X: “There are options beyond negotiation. International structures can be challenged. We must show that Europe and America are not our only paths.”
Washington unmoved
Despite the rhetoric, officials acknowledge Washington has shown no interest in talks. Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told Iranian media managers in a closed-door meeting Saturday—according to information obtained by Iran International—that the White House had ignored Tehran’s outreach.
Another deputy, Kazem Gharibabadi, reportedly disclosed last week: “We have sent messages to Washington 15 times in different ways to restart the negotiations, but we have not received any response.”
The last round, mediated by Oman, collapsed when the US demanded Iran curb enrichment on its own soil—a demand Khamenei branded a red line. With diplomacy stalled, Israel struck Iranian sites, triggering the 12-day war.
Larijani, a former parliament speaker and veteran nuclear negotiator, was appointed last month to lead the powerful body in charge of key security decisions, where he also holds a parallel role as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's personal representative.
His mandate places him at the center of Tehran’s decision-making apparatus following a 12-day war with Israel in June, and his comments marked the most dovish yet on renewing US diplomacy by a top security official since the conflict.
“The path for negotiations with the US is not closed; yet these are the Americans who only pay lip service to talks and do not come to the table — and they wrongfully blame Iran for it,” Larijani wrote on X, posting on behalf of the council.
"WE INDEED PURSUE RATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS. By raising unrealizable issues such as missile restrictions, they set a path which negates any talks."
Speaking separately to Iranian media managers, Larijani dismissed Western demands that Iran scale back its missile program as unacceptable.
“The enemy says we must back down from our missile capability. Which honorable Iranian today would want to hand over his weapon to the enemy?” he said. “We also see negotiations as the path to resolving the nuclear issue. But by raising issues such as missiles, (it shows) they don’t want talks to take shape.”
His remarks underscore Tehran’s refusal to link missiles to nuclear diplomacy. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) restricted Iran’s nuclear program but did not directly address missiles. However, UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the deal, included language urging restraint on missile development.
Larijani argued that Washington is using the missile issue to derail diplomacy.
“At present, the Americans do not want to negotiate. After all, the war broke out at a time when we were in the middle of negotiations,” he said, referring to the recent 12-day war with Israel.
Larijani's comments come amid escalating nuclear tensions. Britain, France and Germany — the E3 — have triggered the UN’s “snapback” mechanism under Resolution 2231, seeking to restore pre-2015 sanctions over what they call Iran’s serious non-compliance.
Tehran, backed by Russia and China, has rejected the move as null and void. Iranian lawmakers have even threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if sanctions are reimposed.
The SNSC chief’s statement on Tuesday called restrictions on Iran’s missile program “unrealizable,” signaling that while Tehran insists negotiations remain possible, it will not make concessions on what it considers a core pillar of its defense doctrine.
Pezeshkian conveyed the greetings of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said Tehran was ready to boost relations with Beijing “to the maximum level.”
“China can count on Iran as a friendly and determined ally… Injustice, aggression, and unilateralism must be prevented," Pezeshkian said. "Iran seeks a world governed by law and equal relations among nations, not by force and coercion.”
Iran is ready to expand comprehensive relations and cooperation with China, Pezeshkian said, including the full implementation of the 25-year comprehensive agreement.
For his part, Xi reaffirmed that Iran was a “strategic partner,” saying China was committed to accelerating the implementation of agreements reached in previous meetings, according to Iran's readout of the call.
“China stands by justice and fairness and recognizes Iran’s legitimate right to peaceful nuclear use.”
Xi also condemned attacks on Iran as "violations of international norms."
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, where Pezeshkian also held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
In an interview with China’s state broadcaster CCTV, Pezeshkian said Iran faced “double standards” from Western powers that violated the 2015 nuclear deal and then accused Tehran of non-compliance.
“The same countries that violated the JCPOA are now claiming that Iran is not fulfilling its commitments,” he said, referring to the nuclear agreement.
On security, Pezeshkian said Iran did not seek war but had shown it could defend itself. He pledged cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “within internationally accepted frameworks,” while criticizing what he called the agency’s lack of fairness.
Also, in a meeting with Iranian expats in China, Pezeshkian said “if Israel is rampaging today, it is because of the technologies provided to it by the United States and its other allies."
On Monday, Putin said Russia and Iran were in constant contact over international issues, including Iran’s nuclear program. Separately, Iran’s foreign minister announced that Tehran, Moscow and Beijing had sent a joint letter to the UN Secretary-General and Security Council condemning European attempts to restore international sanctions on Iran.
“I never said we sent signals to America and they did not respond,” ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran.
His comments followed an exclusive report by Iran International, which said senior Iranian officials admitted in private meetings that the White House ignored at least 15 messages from Tehran seeking renewed negotiations.
Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told told editors of Iranian print and online media in a private meeting on Saturday that US officials had disregarded Iran’s outreach. In a separate session, deputy foreign minister for legal affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran had used different channels to contact Washington but received no reply.
Elsewhere during his press conference, Baghaei added that Iran remained skeptical about US intentions. “In relation to America, we must always consider the reality that we were confronted with Israeli aggression and US support in the middle of a negotiating process. Certainly, we cannot talk about the future without taking past experiences into account.”
Baghaei accused Washington of undermining diplomacy. “In the past ten years America has disrupted diplomatic processes two or three times. These instances show that Washington did not have goodwill from the beginning,” he said.
The European powers -- Britain, France and Germany -- triggered the 30-day snapback process last week, demanding that Iran resume talks with the United States, allow full IAEA inspections, and clarify its stockpiles of enriched uranium or face restored UN sanctions.
Baghaei also addressed remarks he made in an interview with the Guardian suggesting Iran was ready to reduce enrichment levels to the 3.67% cap under the 2015 nuclear deal if a comprehensive agreement was reached.
On Tuesday, he said: “I explained that if the other side fulfills its commitments, we will do the same. But we are very far from that point.”
Washington has insisted Iran halt all uranium enrichment on its territory, a condition repeatedly rejected by Iranian leaders as a red line. Baghaei repeated that position, describing Europe’s conditions as lacking seriousness and goodwill.
Rasekhoon, a youth-focused online outlet promoting Islamic values, seethed about the trend in a column last week as an inversion of the hijab's purported main purpose: modesty.
"(The bloggers) appear to observe the basic requirements of Islamic hijab, yet simultaneously seek attention and align themselves with global beauty standards," read an editorial on the outlet.
"They do so with bright colors, modern cuts, heavy makeup and a wide array of accessories.”
The publication argued that this emphasis on attractiveness erodes the spiritual purpose of the hijab and encourages visibility over modesty.
Internet-friendly modeling, it added, undermines the spiritual purpose of the hijab with its emphasis on attractiveness and drawing attention and visibility.
“Hijab-style influencers are the front-line soldiers of the cultural war, pushing religious and spiritual practices toward decadence,” Razieh Jabbari, a hijab activist, told the Revolutionary Guards-linked Tasnim News Agency last week.
“Behind these individuals stand think tanks seeking to alter religious lifestyles and appearances, trivialize our cultural and spiritual values, and promote a version of ‘American-approved Islam’,” she said.
Historically, the Islamic Republic has promoted the chador—a long black veil covering the entire body—as the ideal dress code for women.
Not popular
While officials often claim widespread support for Islamic veiling, only a minority, perhaps around 15 percent, wear the chador consistently.
According to a 2022 survey by independent research group GAMAAN, over 70 percent of men and women opposed mandatory hijab laws.
“The professionalized style promoted by hijab bloggers has even managed to influence the tastes of part of the population who is religious and believes in hijab, encouraging them to replace the traditional chador with long, modest manteaus,” the Jam-e Jam newspaper wrote.
This year, during the Arbaeen Walk to the shrines of Shia Imams in Iraq, hijab-style bloggers produced a flood of content. According to critics, “Their aim is to reduce grand ceremonies from a ‘spiritual and revolutionary event’ to a mere ‘spectacle—shallow and superficial,” Jabbari told Tasnim.
In Iran, the hijab functions not only as a religious observance but also as a political symbol tied to the state’s identity. Since 1979, the legally required hijab has been presented as a marker of revolutionary authenticity and resistance to Western influence.
For hardliners, enforcing the hijab validates the Islamic system, while opposition is framed as a challenge to state authority.
Women’s clothing has thus become a recurring political battleground, where debates over morality, freedom and national sovereignty converge.
Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, Iranian women have persistently defied the state's compulsory hijab laws, transforming personal acts of resistance into a powerful political statements.
In Tehran and other urban centers, going unveiled has become more common, although most women still carry scarves for public offices, banks or transport to avoid confrontation. Few dress entirely as they wish; most compromise with long sleeves and modest skirts while avoiding sleeveless tops, shorts or short skirts.
In May, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council shelved a new hardline bill mandating stricter hijab rules, likely to avoid a public backlash.
While enforcement has not disappeared, but reports of women facing harassment, including fines and impounding of their vehicles, are not as common as before.
