Iran International
Iranian hardliners have accused the country's negotiators of compromising Tehran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz, claiming a recent understanding with the United States has pushed international shipping toward what they call a US-backed Omani route.
Opponents of the Iran-US understanding have launched a fierce campaign against Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, described as the agreement's chief negotiator, and President Masoud Pezeshkian, accusing them of surrendering Iran's authority over the Strait of Hormuz, thereby allowing the establishment of an Oman-American shipping corridor.
The criticism intensified after a televised interview with Ghalibaf aired on Tuesday, during which he appeared to reject calls by hardliners to close the strategic waterway.
"We must not turn the Strait against itself. The Strait is valuable only if traffic through it increases day by day, not decreases," he said.
His remarks were interpreted by conservative critics as a signal that Tehran has accepted Washington’s preferred arrangements governing maritime traffic through the Strait.
Focus shifts to Omani route
The controversy was fueled by satellite-based vessel tracking videos recently published by Kpler, which appeared to show that many non-Iranian commercial vessels have recently transited the Omani side of the Strait apparently accompanied by US naval vessels, while only a limited number of Iranian vessels were using the Iranian side. Hardliners argue that this reflects a de facto shift away from Iran's jurisdiction.
Ehsan Hosseini, editor-in-chief of the conservative economic website Khat-e Energy, claimed in a video posted online that both "the naval blockade and the Omani corridor are products of negotiations with the United States."
"At this very moment, groups of ships are passing through this corridor under US military escort. Your grave mistake is unforgivable."
In a separate social media post, Hosseini wrote that Iran's diplomats had "not only failed to collect any fees, but also created the conditions for establishing an Omani corridor through the Strait." He questioned whether Iran lacked the military capability to prevent the arrangement or whether "someone has tied the hands of the armed forces."
Military issues warning
Amid the growing debate, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters issued a strongly worded statement on Thursday amid hardliner pressure, without explicitly referring to the alleged Omani corridor.
The military command said all commercial and oil tankers were required to navigate through routes designated by Iran and warned that any vessel departing from those routes or disregarding “Iranian navigation protocols” in the Strait would face "an immediate and decisive response by the armed forces," placing the security of non-compliant ships at risk.
Several Friday prayer leaders also addressed the issue.
Hassan Ameli, Friday prayer leader of Ardabil, claimed the United States had violated the agreement by establishing "a new waterway alongside Oman."
Mohammad-Nabi Mousavifard, the Friday prayer leader of Ahvaz, issued an even stronger warning.
"If any ship passes through this waterway without permission and without observing the laws of the Islamic Republic, it will be sunk in the depths of the Persian Gulf."
Dispute over Strait management fees
According to The Wall Street Journal, US officials proposed during talks in Doha earlier this week that Iran abandon its demand to collect transit charges from ships crossing the Strait in exchange for access to frozen Iranian assets abroad. Tehran reportedly continues to insist on charging vessels for passage.
Hardliners argue that revenue generated from shipping fees could rival Iran's oil income.
They also accuse Ghalibaf of keeping parliament inactive to allow the agreement with Washington to proceed without interference from lawmakers affiliated with the ultra-hardliner Paydari (Steadfastness) Party, who are reportedly preparing draft legislation on a new legal framework for administering the Strait.
Iranian officials have maintained that the payments would be "management fees" rather than transit tolls, which could raise legal objections under international maritime law.
In his interview, Ghalibaf said ships would be allowed to pass without charge for only 60 days under the signed understanding, although he did not specify the type or amount of the fees that would eventually be imposed.
Social media backlash
Hardliner social media users also directed their criticism at Ghalibaf and the Pezeshkian administration.
One X user, Reza Valizadeh, referred to the Kpler tracking footage and wrote: “This is the doing of Ghalibaf and Pezeshkian. Nobody is passing through the Iranian section of the Strait of Hormuz."
Another user, Mohammad-Hossein Chavoshi, claimed that "part of the Strait of Hormuz has effectively slipped out of Iran's control" because international vessels were using a route designated by Oman.
He argued that the sovereign rights over the Strait emphasized by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had effectively been abandoned and warned that "no one knows what will happen in two months if this continues."
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.