Iran turmoil escalates: A hardliner mocking Trump contends with nuclear talks

(SeaPRwire) –   According to reports, new signs of upheaval have emerged within Iran’s negotiating team for talks with the United States, as hardliner Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is widely expected to be replaced by a veteran conservative known for rejecting any nuclear concessions.

Iran International reported on April 24 that 60-year-old Saeed Jalili — who already leads what has been described as a “shadow government” — is anticipated to take over Ghalibaf’s role after Ghalibaf’s sudden exit amid internal political disputes.

Jalili also leads Iran’s ultra-hardline political faction called the Stability Front (Paydari), which is labeled a “bastion of ultraconservatism in Iran,” per multiple reports.

Ali Safavi, an official with Iranian opposition coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), told Digital that Jalili “has developed from a simple nuclear negotiator into a highly influential actor within the ruling regime.”

Reports note Ghalibaf was forced to step down after he tried to add the nuclear issue to the agenda of talks with Washington, a move that sparked strong backlash within Iran’s political establishment.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump canceled plans for U.S. envoys to travel to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran on April 25.

The power struggle between Jalili and Ghalibaf is said to stretch back more than 10 years, and grew much more intense during the 2024 Iranian elections, when Jalili refused to drop out of the race. This split ultimately helped contribute to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s election victory.

Safavi said, “The growing visibility of previously hidden internal divisions comes from repeated nationwide uprisings, deep economic crises and the pressures of war, all of which have intensified internal feuding.

“Far from signaling any sort of systemic transformation, these developments show accelerating erosion and mounting pressure on the regime, deepening internal fractures and leaving the regime increasingly weaker and more vulnerable,” he added.

Sources add that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is also seeking to retain a leading role in the nuclear negotiations, highlighting the competing centers of influence shaping Iran’s overall diplomatic strategy.

Araghchi is currently in Islamabad, Pakistan, after returning from a short trip to Muscat, Oman, where he held high-level diplomatic talks on the ongoing conflict. Reports indicate Araghchi will next travel to Moscow.

Jalili’s potential appointment, however, points to a clear hardening of Iran’s negotiating stance, with far more emphasis placed on resistance rather than compromise.

“Within this regime, there are a number of core positions shared by every faction,” Safavi said before highlighting that these core positions are “repression, the export of terrorism and the pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

“All factions ultimately follow the same core path: holding onto power. They differ only in their methods, not in their end goals,” Safavi cautioned.

Jalili, for his part, served as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator from 2007 to 2013 under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and later ran for president three times. He also previously served as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

A former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Jalili lost his right leg at age 21 during the Iran-Iraq War, which earned him the title of “Living Martyr.”

The Paydari Front, which Jalili is affiliated with, opposes any engagement with the West — particularly the 2015 nuclear deal — and advocates for a doctrine of “active resistance.”

During Hassan Rouhani’s presidency, Jalili established a “shadow government” to push back against the Rouhani administration’s policies, especially the 2015 nuclear deal.

On April 7, Jalili wrote on X: “Yes — the ‘infrastructure’ of American domination and the U.S.-led order is on the verge of collapse; once it falls, a far better foundation will be built in its place.”

A day before that post, he shared: “Telling Trump to ‘shut up’ is not the right response to his ramblings; let him keep talking. Nothing exposes the true nature of the United States more effectively than Trump’s outbursts.”

“When dealing with this regime,” Safavi said, “we must remember that in the 45 years since mullahs consolidated their rule in 1981 by crushing all peaceful political activity, so-called reformists have governed for nearly half that time — and presided over some of the regime’s darkest crimes.”

“These crimes include the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, the assassination of dissidents abroad, the serial murders of intellectuals inside Iran, and the relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons.”