Iran Split Over Trump-Brokered War End Deal, With State Media and Opposition in Turmoil

Iran’s announcement of a 14-point agreement to end the war with the United States has triggered sharp divisions at home, with many ordinary Iranians relieved by the fighting’s end but hardline voices denouncing the deal as surrender. State television, controlled by hawkish figures, gave the accord hostile coverage and portrayed it as an Iranian capitulation to Donald Trump.

The backlash intensified over the past few days, with large rallies and protests against the deal and against Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the two most closely associated with the talks. At demonstrations over the weekend, protesters called for both men to resign and even chanted for their deaths. Before the agreement, hardliners also attacked any concession on control of the Strait of Hormuz, calling it a “gift to the enemies” after it emerged that blocking the waterway had hurt their economies.

President Masoud Pezeshkian defended the process on Sunday and called for unity. He said no major decision had been made without close consultation and approval from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and warned that “the biggest challenge we face today is the attempts by those who seek to divide our society, an issue our enemies are watching closely.” He added that personal opinions could not be presented as the demands of the broader public.

At the same time, reformists made a surprising call for action against the ultraconservative “Paydari Front,” urging the judiciary to act against extremists who claim to speak for the supreme leader. Former vice president Mostafa Hashemitaba said they place themselves above the supreme leader and pretend to represent his views. In the opposition and among exiled Iranians who had hoped the war would topple the Islamic Republic, the deal brought disappointment. Monarchist activist Behnam Amini, based in Washington and supportive of Reza Pahlavi, accused Trump of being willing to “whitewash the blood of thousands of Iranians” for his own interests, while other critics said Trump’s recent comment that he had “never been interested in regime change in Iran” had destroyed Pahlavi’s hopes of becoming the country’s future leader. Iranian-American journalist Isa Ali declared on X that “the Pahlavi project is officially over.”