As peace talks between the United States and Iran remain deadlocked, rifts are widening in Iran’s leadership with a report suggesting that President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are now seeking to oust Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
AND report in Iran International mentions that Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf accused Araghchi of following the instructions of the head of the Revolutionary Guards in the nuclear talks in Pakistan without informing the Iranian president.
Pezeshkian and Ghalibag, citing sources with knowledge of developments in Iran’s cabinet, accuse Araghchi of behaving less like a cabinet member and more like an aide to Revolutionary Guards commander Ahmad Vahidi. Araghchi was also accused of bypassing the president and implementing policies based on Vahidi’s instructions.
The report cited sources who said Pezeshkian, unhappy with Araghchi’s handling of the job over the past few weeks, had told close associates that he would fire Iran’s foreign minister if he continued.
Earlier, some reports indicated considerable friction between Vahidi and Pezeshkian.
It was also reported that Iran’s president had been stripped of his authority to appoint replacements for officials who were killed during the war with the US and Israel. The report added that Vahidi insisted that the vacancies be filled and directly controlled by the Revolutionary Guards.
As Iran International noted, the president feels undermined by the foreign minister’s shift toward military command amid sensitive diplomatic maneuvers.
On the legislative front, internal friction was visible on April 27, when a group of hardline lawmakers refused to sign a parliamentary statement supporting the negotiating team. Despite the support of 261 other MPs, prominent figures associated with Saeed Jalili have withheld their signature, illustrating the fragmented nature of the domestic political landscape.
Araghchi subsequently sought to take the lead in the negotiations and eventually traveled to Islamabad alone on 24 April to present a proposal that was later rejected by the US president.
Recently, Seyed Abbas Araghchi dialed his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and discussed various aspects of the crisis in West Asia. The phone conversation came two days after Araghchi held extensive discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“This evening I received a phone call from Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi of Iran,” Jaishankar said on social media, adding: “We had a detailed conversation on various aspects of the current situation. We agreed to stay in close touch.”
