Iran International
Iran’s ultra-hardliners have escalated their campaign against the US-Iran memorandum, accusing Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian of forcing through a deal they say amounts to a “coup” against the position of the slain Supreme Leader.
The accusations come from the most hardline wing of Iran’s conservative camp, including the Paydari Party and supporters of Saeed Jalili, and mark the latest escalation in a long-running power struggle inside the establishment.
The US-Iran memorandum has deepened that rift, exposing a widening divide between pragmatic conservatives aligned with Ghalibaf and factions that reject any compromise with Washington.
With more conservatives moving closer to Pezeshkian’s administration, Jalili’s camp appears increasingly worried that it is being pushed to the margins.
Old rivalries flaring up
The latest controversy began Tuesday when hardline lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian posted a blunt warning on X: “People of Iran, is a coup underway?”
Nabavian argued the Supreme Leader’s 10 conditions for negotiations had been ignored and that the memorandum with the United States had been forced through despite his objections.
A day earlier, he wrote that what officials described as the country’s interest, despite the Leader’s opposition, was “not expediency but the very essence of corruption.”
The remarks triggered a fierce conservative backlash.
Mojtaba Zarei, a Tehran lawmaker considered close to Ghalibaf, dismissed the accusation as the fantasy of the super-revolutionary camp and an election slogan aimed at rivals.
Citing reports that around 60 Paydari-affiliated lawmakers planned to stage a sit-in outside parliament, Zarei said parliament’s leadership, the Supreme National Security Council and other lawmakers had thwarted what he called an election-driven attempt by a “super-revolutionary” party to seize parliament in the style of Eastern Europe’s color revolutions.
Parliament dispute fuels tensions
Paydari lawmakers have denounced the suspension of parliamentary sessions for more than 120 days since the war began, saying the closure has stripped parliament of its oversight role at a critical moment.
Unverified social media reports suggested that security agencies pressured some legislators to drop plans for a sit-in, while separate reports claimed hardline lawmaker Hamid Rasaei was briefly detained for several hours.
Still, around a dozen lawmakers gathered outside parliament on Tuesday in protest, according to social media reports.
Rouydad24 reported that one of the group’s main aims in forcing parliament back into session is to pass legislation asserting full Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, a step that could create new obstacles for implementing the US-Iran memorandum.
'Coup' accusations dominate social media
The coup narrative has spread quickly among ultra-hardline activists on social media, where Ghalibaf and Pezeshkian are being portrayed as defying the Supreme Leader’s wishes.
One user said Ghalibaf had known the Supreme Leader’s position but “not only voted against it himself, but persuaded other commanders to do the same.”
Another described a coordinated coup project aimed at weakening revolutionary forces, promoting “begging diplomacy,” ignoring the killing of Shiites in Lebanon and turning Iran into a passive country.
The post concluded that confronting this “silent coup” required exposing those behind it, resisting surrender and returning to the path of resistance.
Security concerns ahead of Khamenei funeral
Some social media posts by supporters of the ultra-hardline faction have raised concerns that they may use the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, scheduled for July 9, to protest against the memorandum.
One ultra-hardliner activist claimed on X that "the coup is advancing; they are only waiting to assassinate the Leader," before adding: "I see no solution other than removing this government and Ghalibaf. Going to Tehran [for the funeral] is the best opportunity."
The rhetoric echoes a confrontation during this year’s Muharram ceremonies, when security forces dismantled a mourning site near the place where Ali Khamenei was killed.
The site had been occupied for three days by mostly female ultra-hardliners wearing white burial shrouds to signal readiness for death or revenge. The protesters chanted harsh slogans against officials who backed negotiations.
One participant later posted a video accusing “coup agents” of assaulting protesters and seizing their sound equipment.
The footage showed shroud-clad women chanting “Allahu Akbar” as security personnel moved to disperse them.
Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei plans to remove judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje'i at the end of his first five-year term and appoint a new figure to lead the judiciary, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International.
Sources inside Iran told Iran International that Khamenei does not intend to extend Eje'i’s term for another five years, breaking with a practice followed for nearly four decades in which judiciary chiefs have usually served two consecutive five-year terms.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the decision is not aimed at judicial reform but is part of a broader reshaping of power after the recent war.
They said the new supreme leader is seeking to replace key officials in major state institutions with figures more closely aligned with him.
Eje'i’s expected removal could mark one of the first major signs of Khamenei’s effort to rebuild control over the Islamic Republic’s judicial, security and political apparatus after the transfer of power.
Hardliners step up pressure on Eje'i
The decision comes amid growing criticism of Eje'i from hardline figures after the names of Supreme National Security Council members who voted in favor of a memorandum of understanding with the United States were disclosed.
Critics say Eje'i’s vote was at odds with Khamenei’s stated position, after the leader said in a letter that he had, in principle, held a different view on the memorandum of understanding.
Signs of dissatisfaction with Eje'i’s five-year record have also appeared in recent official and semi-official commentary close to the power structure.
In a message marking Judiciary Week, Khamenei did not clearly endorse Eje'i’s continuation in office. Instead, he addressed the judiciary as an institution and called for the “actualization” of demands previously made by former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The message repeated calls for the implementation of the judicial transformation document, fighting corruption inside the judiciary, reviving public rights, blocking the use of recommendations and lobbying, and improving communication with the public.
Eje'i seeks to defend his record
A day later, Eje'i published a letter to Khamenei in deferential language, defending the judiciary’s performance and pledging to continue the path of “judicial transformation.”
“I and all components of the judiciary consider ourselves obliged to carry out Your Excellency’s binding commands precisely, swiftly and without any reduction,” Eje'i wrote.
Media outlets and figures close to the establishment criticized Eje'i for not publishing such a letter before Khamenei’s message. Some also described the new leader’s renewed emphasis on his father’s demands as a negative assessment of Eje'i’s record, arguing that their repetition showed the judiciary had failed to deliver practical results under him.
Rival factions inside the establishment have also stepped up attacks on Eje'i, accusing him of distancing himself from the leadership’s demands.
Media close to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and President Masoud Pezeshkian have described the attacks as part of an effort by the faction aligned with Saeed Jalili, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and the Paydari Front to create divisions among senior officials and weaken the postwar political path.
Media close to the judiciary and Eje'i’s supporters have sought to portray his five-year record as successful, citing reduced imprisonment, electronic court proceedings, shorter trials, anti-corruption efforts and public outreach.
Rights groups point to record of repression
Human rights groups and activists say Eje'i is not a reformist figure but a long-standing part of the Islamic Republic’s repressive judicial and security apparatus.
They point to his record in the Special Clerical Court, the Ministry of Intelligence, and later as first deputy and head of the judiciary, saying his tenure has been marked by continued heavy sentences against protesters, political activists, journalists, prisoners of conscience and minorities.
Rights advocates say the judiciary under Eje'i has continued to act as the legal and executive arm of security institutions in political and security cases.
They also argue that replacing Eje'i alone would not bring meaningful change without structural reform, an end to security interference in judicial cases, guaranteed access to lawyers, a halt to forced confessions, the annulment of political verdicts and respect for fair trial standards.
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.
