Iranian hard-liners intensify attacks on emerging U.S. deal

Hard-line and conservative figures in Iran are mounting a public campaign against the emerging agreement with the United States, as talks continue and final approval still appears unresolved. The criticism has focused on Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who also leads Iran’s negotiating team. In recent days, protesters have rallied in Mashhad and Tehran, with some chants calling for both men to resign and even to die.

Fars News, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on Saturday evening that dozens demonstrated outside the foreign ministry in Mashhad. The protesters denounced Araghchi, whom they see as the key figure in the negotiations. In Tehran, videos showed similar protests directed at Ghalibaf. Conservative lawmakers Amir-Hossein Sabeti and Mahmoud Nabavian also attacked the prospective deal, with Sabeti calling on social media for Araghchi’s removal and Nabavian warning on television that, under the agreement, “Iran will become an American colony.”

One of the most prominent voices on the right, Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari, criticized the reported plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He argued that Tehran would be giving up one of its strongest leverage tools against its adversaries without gaining anything meaningful in return. Shariatmadari asked why Araghchi and Ghalibaf would accept dropping what he described as a “decisive” instrument that had pushed Iran’s enemies close to economic strangulation.

He rejected suggestions that Iran could simply charge fees to ships passing through the strait, saying such revenue could not compensate for the losses of senior commanders, nuclear scientists, civilians, and widespread damage. The backlash reflects the growing resistance among the so-called Paydari Front and other hard-line circles, who oppose dialogue with the West and favor continued confrontation. President Masoud Pezeshkian and others have accused them of pushing Iran toward further conflict with the United States and Israel. Some Iranian commentators also said the attacks on Araghchi and Ghalibaf show that the hard-liners fear losing power if an agreement reduces the value of confrontation.