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Tehran, Iran – Senior negotiators from Iran and the United States are in Switzerland to advance a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war launched by the US and Israel at the end of February.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Iranian delegation on Sunday. advanced discussion mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, with Vice President JD Vance leading the US delegation.
But in Tehran, anti-union continued to argue about Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei not wanting an MoU.
“I, as a matter of fact, had a different opinion,” he said short written words Khamenei’s statement on Thursday, which is what he did at this week’s MoU meeting with the US. But, he added, he accepted President Masoud Pezeshkian after he took office.
On Sunday, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), a major state television channel, resigned after airing an intimate interview with Mahmoud Nabavian, a religious leader, parliamentarian and member of Iran’s negotiating team during talks in Pakistan in April.
To support his opposition to the MoU, Nabavian read lines from what he claimed were Khamenei’s letters to unnamed officials at the Supreme National Security Council in March and April.
Nabavian said the supreme leader was against the ceasefire that began on April 8 as he wanted the immediate implementation of payment methods for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and wanted “exclusive control” of Iran’s waterways.
Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from in public since becoming supreme leader in March, is said to also want military withdrawal, the release of frozen materials and a complete refusal to accept Iran’s nuclear program.
The conversation with Nabavian lasted for 11 minutes before it was abruptly terminated by the host. It was not found in the IRINN online store on Sunday.
Pezeshkian called the text of the MoU “a historic document” that “it shows the voice of a country that has not sold its dignity and independence for any threat or pressure”.
The Supreme National Security Council issued a statement saying it will protect “the rights of the Iranian nation and the opposition”, and honor the memory of the leaders killed in the war. Khamenei’s father and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed on the first day of the US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28.
Lebanese factor
Several politicians, including Tehran’s controversial Mayor Alireza Zakani, and government-linked media have confirmed in recent days that almost all members of the Supreme National Security Council, including military officials, voted for the MoU.
Saeed Jalili, who was the chief negotiator and failed to run for president, was the only one who voted against the agreement, which has provided relief to international markets affected by the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.
Amir Hossein Sabeti, a hard-line MP close to Jalili, told a rally in Tehran on Saturday night that Pezeshkian, his ministers and Ghalibaf voted yes, while Jalili voted no because they believed “Iran’s national interests” were not being met through the deal.
Sabeti said hawkish politicians have been demanding government answers about the MoU since its initial presentation, which emphasized that the ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon, is being repeatedly violated by Israel.
On Saturday, Iran’s military said the Strait of Hormuz was closed again due to Israel’s attack on Lebanon, but the US military said the waterway remained open to all ships.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Switzerland’s priority will be to ensure that the agreement is fulfilled, especially in Lebanon, before technical talks are held to reach a long-term resolution in the coming months.
However, anti-cooperation groups in Iran are using their access to state media as a tool against any talks with the US.
On Be Vaght-e Iran, a wartime TV program, said that along with the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport should be closed to prevent Iranian negotiators from leaving the country to negotiate with the “enemy”.
Kian Abdollahi, editor-in-chief of the Tasnim news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said it was “wrong” to send more delegations to Switzerland when the agreement was not followed.
“We are facing a period of time, and we cannot afford to lose this time.” Let’s say 30 days later, we’re going to do something radical and bombard Israel with missiles. Then we will have lost something very important. The objective of the other side is to lower the pressure on the Strait of Hormuz,” he said in a video interview.
The government appears to be at odds with the most extreme political figures in the nightly rallies of pro-government supporters on the streets.
Such conventions have been used repeatedly to create messages against any alliance with the US since the beginning of the war.
Tehran lawmaker Ali Khezrian told state television on Saturday that the president’s office had taken a document describing the meetings as “fun rituals” that are helping to “suppress dialogue”.
“These are the same people who kept me and other people who wrote the government’s statement in office,” he said, criticizing the government for wanting to end the rallies, which have been accompanied by armed vehicles and roadblocks, as well as loud religious songs played from car speakers.
