A report doing the rounds on Israeli media claims that Iran’s President Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Ghalibaf, are seeking the ouster of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi apparently for being too aligned with the Revolutionary Guard.
The Times of Israel says they have accused Aragchi of “sidelining” them and acting less as a foreign minister and more as an aide of Guard Commander Ahmad Vahidi. The paper says that “Pezeshkian has told his associates he will fire Araghchi if this continues.”
The paper claims there are “serious disagreements” among Iran’s top officials regarding the position taken in talks to end the war and make the ceasefire permanent.
The Jerusalem Post has also pitched in with a similar report on Iran saying that “Araghchi has been acting without Pezeshkian’s oversight or knowledge while coordinating entirely with Vahidi and Vahidi’s directives.”
The paper quotes Iran International, a Persian-language satellite television channel and multilingual digital news operation based in London, that “internal disputes” within the Iran negotiating team, caused them to leave the talks on April 12.
These disgreements also reportedly included Iran’s nuclear programme as part of the agenda for discussion with the US.
Following the negotiations, US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the US delegation discovered the Iranian team was unable to strike a deal without returning to Tehran for approval “from the supreme leader or somebody else.”
While Iran’s governance system leaves plenty of room for airing doubts and disagreements, one wonders whether Iran International or the Israeli media can be considered credible when it comes to something like this.
Iran International may represent a view that aligns with the West, and also with exiled Iranians. As for Israel, mired as it is in a fight with Iran, it can be expected to use every trick in the book to do Iran down.
