A reformist call to suspend uranium enrichment, release political prisoners, and curb the Revolutionary Guards’ power has intensified debate over Iran’s future at a moment of heightened pressure.
Even without open war, Israel and Iran are locked in a psychological battle—one marked by devastating Israeli intelligence strikes and more modest but highly publicized Iranian attempts to recruit and infiltrate the Jewish state.
An outlet affiliated with Iran’s Guards warned on Tuesday that recent calls by reformist politicians for sweeping changes in domestic and foreign policy echoed mistakes made by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A fierce battle has erupted inside Iran’s political establishment over the country’s future, with moderates urging sweeping reforms and hardliners branding their proposals a thinly veiled bid for regime change.
Iran’s Reform Front called for major political and nuclear policy shifts, including a voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment, the release of political prisoners and an end to the repression of dissent.
Amid deteriorating ties with Europe and the looming threat of another war with Israel, Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian is under mounting attack from Tehran’s hardliners, who question both his competence and his political judgment.
With the supreme leader’s retreat from view since the 12-Day War with Israel, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) appear to have taken on his role as political disciplinarian, nudging senior figures to keep their feuds out of public view.
Pressure is building inside Iran’s political establishment for a fundamental change of course, with former president Hassan Rouhani joining a growing chorus warning that continued rigidity could lead to paralysis or trigger renewed unrest.
Iran’s judiciary dismissed or convicted 138 employees for corruption in the past year, the head of its Protection and Intelligence Center, Ali Abdollahi, said on Wednesday.
A rare invitation from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for talks on removing Iran from its global money-laundering blacklist has reignited a years-long political battle in Tehran.
Tehran moderates are openly signaling readiness for a return to nuclear talks, hinting at accepting some restrictions on its activities but Washington appears unmoved.
Iran’s president is facing a storm of backlash after twice straying into politically fraught territory on live television, first by suggesting talks with Washington were preferable to war, then by downplaying the stakes of the Zangezur Corridor dispute.
Iran’s hardliners have vowed retaliation against a US-brokered deal last week which would link two parts of Azerbaijan via a corridor through Armenia, while President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government has so far offered only a muted response.
The Islamic Republic’s massive investment in this year’s Arbaeen pilgrimage to Iraqi holy cities is stirring fresh outrage at home, where Iranians face spiraling inflation, unpaid wages and hours-long power and water outages.
Ali Larijani’s return to the heart of Iran’s security establishment has triggered renewed scrutiny of the country’s opaque power structures and sharp questions about the consistency of its political vetting.
A controversial post by hardline figure Saeed Jalili denigrating nuclear talks has triggered a rare public rebuke from within Iran’s security establishment—one that may signal his waning influence in Tehran’s evolving postwar leadership.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday appointed Ali Larijani as his personal representative to the Supreme National Security Council, two days after President Masoud Pezeshkian named Larijani as the council’s secretary.
Two senior Iranian lawmakers have welcomed the creation of a new Defense Council under the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), calling it a timely move to streamline military decision-making in what they described as wartime conditions.
Iran has established a new Defense Council under the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), aiming to centralize military decision-making and prepare for crises ranging from war to potential leadership transition.
Veteran powerbroker Ali Larijani has been reappointed as Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SCNS), returning to a role from which he resigned two decades ago after clashes with ultra-hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
A son of a former Iranian intelligence chief has been charged with supporting Israel and was banned from using social media for three months, Hassan Younesi announced on his X account, amid a sweeping postwar crackdown by Iranian authorities.
Iran has arrested 20 people in a crackdown on a suspected bribery and influence network operating within Tehran’s judiciary system, a top official said on Monday.