Iranian Hardliners Demand Official Withdrawal from US Agreement and Military Escalation

Iranian conservative media are intensifying calls for a more aggressive stance against the United States, urging Tehran to officially withdraw from the recent memorandum of understanding with Washington. Kayhan, a regime-aligned newspaper, published an editorial demanding Iran declare the agreement void, accusing the US of violating and rendering it "a dead document." The article advocates for expanding Iran's target bank against US allies and preparing for a broader military confrontation, including a decisive military display and enhanced missile and drone capabilities.

The editorial emphasizes the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, calling it Iran's "winning card" and asserting that Iran's national will, not US provocations, should determine its future. This hardline rhetoric comes amid internal political turmoil, as two prominent opponents of the agreement were removed from leadership positions in the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee. The conservative newspaper Novinayad described these removals as a "pincer attack" on critics, accusing the government of a political purge to marginalize dissenters and consolidate power around supporters of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

The dismissed officials, Mahmoud Nabavian and Ebrahim Rezaei, had opposed the memorandum and the ceasefire, and their replacements are aligned with the pro-agreement faction. Despite the leadership changes, the committee chairman Ebrahim Azizi remains in his post. This political shift signals a tightening grip by hardliners favoring a more confrontational approach toward the US, reflecting growing tensions within Iran's ruling elite over the country's foreign policy direction.