The recent wave of international sanctions against Iran’s regime has ignited a fierce internal crisis, pushing the ruling factions into what can only be described as a nuclear quagmire. In a desperate and chaotic scramble, regime officials are now publicly attacking one another over failed attempts to negotiate with the United States, exposing a level of weakness and duplicity that reveals the utter failure of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s policies. The regime’s contradictory statements and panicked denials paint a clear picture of a system in disarray, lashing out at itself as external pressure mounts.
Khamenei’s public defiance vs. his government’s secret pleas for talks
The regime’s primary strategy has been to project an image of unyielding defiance to its domestic base while secretly begging for negotiations. This two-faced policy has collapsed into a humiliating public spectacle.
On October 7, regime MP Qasem Ravanbakhsh pointedly reminded the government of Khamenei’s recent decree: “Less than a month ago, Imam Khamenei said regarding negotiations with America that negotiation with America has no benefits and does not repel any harm from us, but rather has many harms for the country and should not be done.” Ravanbakhsh then attacked regime President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government for violating this order, referencing its admission of trying to set up a meeting with the U.S.
That admission had come from the government’s own spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani. On September 30, she revealed that Iran had “announced its readiness to have a meeting with the presence of the three European countries, the IAEA, and Mr. Witkoff, but in any case, it was not accepted by them, or they did not attend the meetings.” This desperate plea for talks, which was rebuffed by the American side, was also confirmed by the Farhikhtegan newspaper, a publication linked to Khamenei’s top advisor, Ali Akbar Velayati. On October 6, it wrote that despite Iran’s willingness to meet, “it was Steve Witkoff who refrained from attending the coordinated meeting in New York.”
A government in chaos: Panic, denials, and contradictions
As the humiliation of being publicly snubbed by the U.S. became a tool for internal attacks, the regime’s officials descended into panic. On October 4, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi candidly admitted, “In recent months, we have only had talks with the Americans regarding the nuclear issue… of course, indirect talks… of course, direct and indirect messages, with or without intermediaries, have been exchanged between us and the American side.”
However, only three days later, on October 7, facing intense backlash from hardliners, Araghchi made a complete reversal. The Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the terrorist IRGC Quds Force, reported: “The Foreign Minister denied the news from the Kuwaiti newspaper regarding contact between him and Witkoff, the American representative in the negotiations, and said: no contact has been made.” This panicked denial was a direct response to figures like the Friday prayer leader of Karaj, Hossein Hamedani, who on October 2 warned, “I saw in the news, which I hope is wrong, that they intended to have direct negotiations and the other side did not accept. If it is wrong, then fine. But if it is true, they must explain why.”
The ultimate hypocrisy: Implicating the “helpless caliph” in the failure
Cornered and facing accusations of treasonous disobedience, the Pezeshkian government deployed its final, desperate defense: implicating the Supreme Leader himself. On September 16, government spokesperson Mohajerani fired back at critics, making it clear that the attempt to negotiate was not a rogue operation. She declared, “We are all obligated to stand behind Khamenei. I draw three lines under the word obligated. This is a strategic issue for the system, and we should not have a word higher than the leader’s word.”
This stunning admission serves two purposes. First, it confirms the complete subservience of the so-called “moderate” president to Khamenei’s authority. Second, and more importantly, it directly ties Khamenei to the humiliating diplomatic failure. The very leader who publicly forbids talks with the U.S. was, in fact, the one authorizing his government’s desperate, and ultimately fruitless, efforts to secure them.
This public meltdown is not a sign of political debate but of a regime at its breaking point. The infighting, contradictions, and frantic attempts to shift blame expose a ruling establishment that is strategically bankrupt and terrified of its own future, especially as the restless populace and their organized Resistance movement have proven their resolve to overthrow a regime whose despotic rule has expired long ago.