Hope and hostility collide in Tehran over possible deal with US
Maryam Sinaiee
Iran International
Signs of a possible breakthrough between Tehran and Washington have triggered sharply divergent reactions across Iran’s political and media landscape.
Iran International
Signs of a possible breakthrough between Tehran and Washington have triggered sharply divergent reactions across Iran’s political and media landscape.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a deal with Tehran “will happen” but insisted there was “never a deadline” for negotiations.
When asked whether a deal could come before his planned trip to China next week, he said “it’s possible,” while stressing that renewed strikes also remained on the table.
His comments came as Axios reported that the White House believes a one-page memorandum to end the war may be within reach, potentially laying the groundwork for broader nuclear talks and a possible agreement within 30 days.
Reacting cautiously, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the US proposal remains under review and that Tehran’s response would be conveyed to Pakistani mediators once finalized.
According to Axios, Washington expects a reply within 48 hours.
The combination of Trump’s remarks and reports of a possible agreement had immediate economic effects inside Iran, with the value of foreign currencies and the cryptocurrency Tether falling sharply in Tehran markets.
Hardline rejection
Media outlets affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), however, pushed back strongly against suggestions that an agreement was imminent.
“Today’s propaganda by American media is about justifying Trump’s retreat from his recent hostile action,” Tasnim News wrote, citing an unnamed informed source. “Trump’s move was wrong from the beginning and should not have been taken.”
The source added that after Trump’s “retreat,” Iran had resumed reviewing the proposal and would announce its conclusion to mediators “whenever it reaches one.”
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for parliament’s national security committee, also dismissed the reports.
“What the Americans did not achieve in face-to-face negotiations, they will not obtain through a failed war,” he said. “Iran is ready, finger on the trigger… if they do not surrender and grant the necessary concessions… we will deliver a harsh and regret-inducing response.”
Diplomatic opening?
Despite the rhetoric, other voices portrayed the developments as a possible diplomatic opening.
The website Nour News, close to security institutions, described the suspension of the “Freedom Project” as evidence of a US “miscalculation” but added that it had “once again given value to the diplomacy card and strengthened the negotiation option to resolve the crisis.”
It also pointed to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s recent trip to Beijing as evidence that Iran had entered a new phase of diplomatic activity, with China emerging as a potential facilitator in the Hormuz crisis.
The outlet warned, however, that “given Trump’s impulsive decisions, the situation remains fragile.”
Even as negotiations continue, Tehran appears intent on reinforcing its leverage in the Strait of Hormuz.
Reports indicate Iranian authorities have issued new instructions to shipping companies through a body referred to as the “Persian Gulf Strait Authority.”
The reported rules state that ships from countries that sanctioned Iran or froze Iranian assets could be denied passage. Violations may result in seizure and fines amounting to up to 20 percent of cargo value.
Journalist Mohammadreza Manafi wrote on X that Araghchi’s meeting with China’s foreign minister may have helped break the deadlock.
“It seems Araghchi will return to Tehran from the land of the dragon with ‘full hands’,” he wrote.
Analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi offered a more cautious analogy, comparing the negotiations to “the heart of a heart-attack patient being resuscitated in an operating room.”
“Fortunately, today this heart shows better vital signs than in previous days,” he wrote, “but there is no certainty about its condition tomorrow.”
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.