{"id":918434,"date":"2026-07-08T22:17:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/dissent-grows-against-deal-in-iran-but-the-regime-is-likely-to-have-final-say\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T22:17:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T03:17:47","slug":"dissent-grows-against-deal-in-iran-but-the-regime-is-likely-to-have-final-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/dissent-grows-against-deal-in-iran-but-the-regime-is-likely-to-have-final-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Dissent grows against deal in Iran \u2013 but the regime is likely to have final say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With the US and Iran inching towards an agreement to end the conflict that began more than three months ago, it\u2019s clear that some factions in Iran are not happy about what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n

Hardliners have been taking to state-media with harsh criticisms of the reported details of the \u201cmemorandum of understanding;\u201d and some rallies have seen chanting against the negotiators.<\/p>\n

Despite the discord, the regime is likely to have the final say.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump has suggested the memorandum would be signed on Sunday \u2013 his 80th birthday. But there\u2019s been no confirmation from Tehran that a final text has been agreed.<\/p>\n

Much of the dissent emerging in Iran comes from a fringe faction known as \u201cJebhe-ye Paydari\u201d \u2013 or the Endurance Front \u2013 who view themselves as guardians of the values of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the pro-Western Shah before imposing an authoritarian regime rooted in Shia Islamist ideology.<\/p>\n

Over the past months, Iranian officials have tried to carefully balance negotiations with Trump while appeasing factions across the country\u2019s diverse political landscape, including the Paydari group. Inclusion of the group\u2019s members in talks with American negotiators in Pakistan in April suggested Tehran was trying to show internal cohesion.<\/p>\n

Yet the extremist group has mobilized its members and media outlets to ramp up criticism of the agreement, heaping pressure on Iranian negotiators who have been attempting to extract concessions from a US administration intent on weakening \u2013 and possibly ending \u2013 the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

One prominent hardliner from the group, Mahmoud Nabavian, said that if Iran signs the agreement \u201cwe will effectively become a colony of the United States,\u201d adding that the agreement would mean opening up the vital Strait of Hormuz \u201ceven for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to carry out even the smallest amount of uranium enrichment, we would first have to obtain permission from the United States \u2013 even for purposes such as producing medicine or electricity,\u201d Nabavian, who himself was once a member of the negotiation team, added.<\/p>\n

Nor was it clear when Iran would benefit from the release of its frozen assets overseas or sanctions relief, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more signals of weakness we send, the closer war comes to us,\u201d Nabavian said in a television interview where he read through an alleged agreement document.<\/p>\n

The text of the agreement has not been officially released.<\/p>\n

The hardliners have even mobilized protests against any agreement, organizing a large demonstration for Sunday night outside the foreign ministry targeting Iran\u2019s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, in open defiance of the calls for unity.<\/p>\n

The rising dissent in the media and on the streets prompted social media outlets representing Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to repost a message he had from March calling for the media to \u201cseriously refrain from focusing on weaknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The newspaper Javan, seen as close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said some speakers at public rallies were ignoring the instructions of Khamenei and were \u201cacting to scatter the seeds of schism and division among the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants at one rally in Tehran on Saturday demanded the resignations of Araghchi and Iran\u2019s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to social media videos.<\/p>\n

They recalled the assassination at the beginning of the conflict in February of Khamenei\u2019s father \u2013 the previous Supreme Leader \u2013 with the chant: \u201cGhalibaf, Araghchi \u2013 what about my Leader\u2019s blood?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ali Rabiei, an official close to President Masoud Pezeshkian, pushed back Sunday, warning against creating \u201cartificial narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Iranian media outlets have cautioned against allowing disagreement to become division.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ugly insults that were unfortunately directed at some officials last night, although committed by a specific and very limited group and exaggerated by anti-Iranian hostile media, are completely unacceptable even on that limited scale,\u201d the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is criticism or protest, there are certainly reasonable and courteous ways to express it,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Voices opposing an agreement with the US have always existed inside the Islamic Republic. The real question is whether they are strong enough to derail the impending signing or even sabotage future negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive deal.<\/p>\n

The Iranian nezam<\/em> \u2013 or regime \u2013 including the supreme leader, the president, the foreign minister, the parliament speaker, and the military, has made a point of showcasing unity in its efforts to negotiate a diplomatic resolution with Trump.<\/p>\n

Yet core elements of the Islamic Republic \u2013 including the state broadcaster, veteran conservative politicians and protesters who claim victory in the war against the US and Israel \u2013 have intensified their efforts against any agreement, which they view as surrendering the gains from the war.<\/p>\n

Contrary to a commonly held narrative that debate in Iran, the country has a distinct and vibrant political discourse. Diverse factions, representing a range of views and backed by their own media outlets, are permitted to operate within the structures of the state \u2013 as long as they do not challenge the foundational elements of the Islamic Republic, primarily the supreme leader.<\/p>\n

Just as there are voices in the US and Israel opposing any agreement with Tehran, Iran has its own dissenting factions. While they stop short of directly challenging the supreme leader, these voices are now bold enough to claim even that Mojtaba Khamenei has been deceived into blessing the agreement.<\/p>\n

But the regime retains control. Dissent may be loud and even divisive at times, but the power of decision remains in the hands of an entrenched governing structure that this war has failed to destroy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

CNN
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the US and Iran inching towards an agreement to end the conflict that began more than three months ago, it\u2019s clear that some factions in Iran are not happy about what\u2019s on offer. Hardliners have been taking to state-media with harsh criticisms of the reported details of the \u201cmemorandum of understanding;\u201d and some rallies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":918435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150870,4032],"tags":[150869,10824],"class_list":["post-918434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-grows","tag-grows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}