Iran International
President Massoud Pezeshkian’s call for “unity” and “national reconciliation” has collided with Iran’s power structure, becoming a one-way street in which concessions flow to hardliners while the president gains little in return.
Since taking office, Pezeshkian has softened his language, accommodated rivals in key appointments, and defended compromise as the price of stability.
Hardliners, however, have treated reconciliation not as mutual restraint but as opportunity—using it to settle scores, reclaim positions, and advance policies that run directly against his campaign pledges.
That imbalance was underscored last week by reformist daily Sharq, which warned that Pezeshkian’s conciliatory posture had become “a one-way road" for his political rivals.
“In private, hardline MPs admit fuel prices must rise; in public, they posture as defenders of the poor,” the paper wrote, adding that critics who decry internet filtering or strict hijab enforcement often exploit the same issues for political gain.
Taking advantage
Pezeshkian’s invocation of vefaq—the Arabic term for unity or accord—was meant to signal cooperation with constructive actors. Moderates now argue it has been interpreted as surrender rather than partnership.
Even explicit backing from the Supreme Leader has done little to shield the government.
According to Sharq, hardliners routinely reframe his remarks to suit their own narrative, while parliamentarians amplify public anxiety by exaggerating crises such as fuel price hikes, spreading unsubstantiated claims, and calling for prosecutions that weaken state institutions.
A review of daily statements published on parliament’s official website, icana.ir, shows a steady stream of alarmist rhetoric and political point-scoring, reinforcing the impression of a faction more invested in spectacle than governance.
Compromise or surrender?
Rouydad24 this week extended the critique to Pezeshkian himself, questioning his repeated claims that he is resisting hardliner pressure.
The outlet cited his appointment of Saghab Esfahani as vice president for energy consumption optimization as evidence of retreat.
“A president who reached office by promising honesty and resilience,” it wrote, “now repeats the language of resistance while compromising his ideals simply to remain in office.”
For a society long scarred by unfulfilled promises, such language signals repetition, not resolve.
Hardliners, Sharq concluded, offer no credible solutions to Iran’s mounting crises. Their relevance is sustained through vendettas, institutional erosion, and the exploitation of public grievance.
Columnist Zohreh Farahani argued in a December 16 commentary that real governance requires courage, accountability, and respect for the rule of law, suggesting that all were absent from the current administration in Tehran.
The result is a deepening political deadlock, he asserted. Reconciliation has moved in only one direction, leaving Pezeshkian weakened, moderates increasingly disillusioned, and Iran’s power balance as rigid as ever.
The outlet said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s unusually blunt warning in parliament this week – that lawmakers could move to impeach cabinet ministers if prices continue to rise – went beyond routine oversight and marked a strategic shift away from the rhetoric of “consensus” that initially defined relations between the legislature and the administration.
According to Rouydad24, Ghalibaf is seeking to distance himself from the government’s economic record as inflation, a plunging rial and rising living costs fuel public anger, recasting himself as an independent watchdog rather than a political partner.
The analysis said the warning reflected a broader recalibration in Tehran, where parliamentary backing for the government has given way to open boundary-setting, including criticism of economic ministers and senior appointments.
Ghalibaf’s move comes as parliament has already demonstrated its willingness to act, having impeached Economy Minister Abdolnasser Hemmati earlier this year over rising prices, showing that the threat against the Pezeshkian government is not merely symbolic.
Kazem Delkhosh, the deputy for legislative affairs in the president’s parliamentary office, said on Monday that Pezeshkian and members of his economic team will attend a joint session of parliament on Tuesday to discuss broader economic issues and rising living-cost pressures.
Ali Mohammad Naini, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Israel and its allies had pursued a dual strategy during the conflict: direct military confrontation alongside efforts to destabilize Iran from within.
“The enemy’s defeat in the 12-day war was precisely here,” Naini said. “They tried to drag the war inside the country, but that project failed.”
Naini was speaking at a meeting to organize commemorations for December 30, a state-marked anniversary tied to mass rallies that followed the disputed 2009 presidential election and the suppression of the Green Movement protests – one of the largest episodes of unrest in Iran’s recent history.
The Green Movement is often cited alongside the 2019 Bloody November protests and the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrations as the most significant challenges to the Islamic Republic since its founding.
Naini said Iran’s adversaries had assumed that air strikes would be followed by protests, riots or internal collapse, repeating what he described as a long-standing “illusion of chaos” rooted in past episodes of unrest.
“They sat in their war rooms with a wrong calculation, waiting for disorder, riots and the breakdown of the country from within,” he said.
Instead, Naini said the attacks were followed by large public reactions that included anti-Israel rallies and funerals for those killed, which he portrayed as demonstrations of national unity.
He said Israel underestimated what he described as a “fortress-like” popular cohesion and that attempts at what Iranian officials often call soft war or cognitive war aimed at weakening society from within were completely unsuccessful.
“The enemy shifted from military war to cognitive war, using pessimism, division and exaggerating social dissatisfaction to weaken the unity that was formed,” Naini said.
The remarks come as regional tensions remain high and as Israel weighs next steps.
NBC News reported over the weekend that Israeli officials are preparing to brief US President Donald Trump on options for possible new military strikes on Iran, citing concerns that Tehran is rebuilding facilities linked to ballistic missile production and repairing air defenses damaged in earlier attacks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to raise the issue during an upcoming meeting with Trump, including options for US support or participation in any future action, according to the report.
Trump has repeatedly said US strikes in June destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities and has warned Tehran against trying to rebuild them. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its military and nuclear programs are defensive.
Naini said Iran continues to monitor what he described as hostile plans closely, adding that the lesson Iranian officials draw from both past unrest and the recent war is that internal cohesion remains decisive in confronting external threats.
“People are asking what problem Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had with former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that they firmly enforced the sensitive jobs law against him, but are now ignoring the same law in the case of Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref,” Tehran MP Hamidreza Rasaei said in an open session of parliament.
Rasaei said key provisions of Iran’s transparency law – requiring disclosure of officials’ income, judicial rulings, commission proceedings, major contracts and recruitment – had not been implemented by the government or the judiciary, adding that non-compliance is defined as a criminal offense.
He accused both branches of violating the law and said public frustration was growing as legal requirements were enforced rigidly in some political cases but ignored in others.
Referring to the law governing sensitive positions, which bars officials if close family members hold foreign citizenship, Rasaei said Aref’s appointment was unlawful because his child holds German nationality, contrasting it with the earlier removal of Zarif.
“When laws are applied selectively,” Rasaei said, “this is the result.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said runaway increases in the cost of basic goods had become one of the public’s main concerns, with rising foreign exchange and gold prices acting as key drivers – or what he called pretexts – for broader inflation.
Speaking in an open parliamentary session, Ghalibaf said the legislature had held a series of oversight meetings with senior government officials, including the ministers of economy, agriculture and industry, as well as the heads of the planning and budget organization and the central bank.
He said the talks had focused on preventing further erosion of household purchasing power, implementing a state-backed food voucher scheme and managing volatility in the currency market.
“If these measures do not deliver results, then in order to minimize time and tension, the priority will be for the government to repair its cabinet,” Ghalibaf said. “If the necessary reforms are not carried out by the government, representatives will be forced to begin the impeachment process.”
The warning adds to a widening chorus of concern inside Iran’s political establishment as inflation, a weakening rial and sharp rises in food and housing costs strain living standards, particularly for lower-income households.
Ghalibaf said parliament would continue to pursue the issue with urgency, stressing that lawmakers viewed the surge in prices for everyday necessities as a national priority.
The pressure on the Pezeshkian administration has also extended beyond economic policy.
During the same parliamentary session, dozens of lawmakers issued formal written warnings to the president and cabinet ministers on a wide range of issues, from perceived inequality in the state bureaucracy to delays in infrastructure projects, internet access, student housing and unpaid wages.
Such parliamentary admonitions are a routine feature of Iranian politics, but their volume shows the breadth of dissatisfaction as economic hardship deepens.
Impeachment is not a theoretical threat. In March 2025, just six months after Pezeshkian took office, parliament voted to impeach and remove Economy Minister Abdolnasser Hemmati, citing the rising dollar rate and higher prices for basic goods.
During that session, Pezeshkian hinted at the limits of his authority, pointing indirectly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s stance on relations with the United States and saying the government had to align itself with those positions.
Iran’s economic woes are rooted in years of sanctions, policy missteps and political constraints that have narrowed the government’s room for maneuver.
Inflation has remained high, the national currency has repeatedly hit record lows and the cost of essential goods has surged, eroding public confidence and adding to social tension.
The latest parliamentary threat comes as broader debates intensify over accountability and power in Iran’s political system. Moderates and reformist figures have increasingly argued that elected institutions lack the authority to address structural problems, while ultimate control over key areas of policy rests with unelected bodies under the Supreme Leader.
At the same time, even some of Pezeshkian’s former supporters have begun to question whether he can deliver meaningful change, with commentators and social media users warning that continued economic deterioration could trigger renewed unrest.
