00:00Iranian President's Resignation Rumors Denied As Power Struggles Intensify
00:05Tehran, June 1st
00:06Iranian authorities have firmly denied reports that President Massoud Pazeshkian submitted his resignation to Supreme Leader Mojtabah Khamenei,
00:15dismissing the claims as a smokescreen campaign aimed at destabilizing the Islamic Republic.
00:20Resignation Reports Denied
00:22On May 31st, the Iranian news agency WANA, citing government sources, asserted that speculation about Pazeshkian's departure was completely inaccurate
00:31and part of a psychological operation targeting Tehran.
00:35Information about President Pazeshkian's resignation is completely inaccurate.
00:39The Iranian president is still fully fulfilling his duties, and his upcoming work schedule will proceed as planned without any
00:46changes, a WANA source stated,
00:48adding that such rumors usually aim at two purposes.
00:51Firstly, to create an atmosphere of instability, and secondly, to sow division in society and weaken Iran's internal unity.
00:59Mehdi Tabatabai, Deputy Head of Communications at the Iranian President's Office, later denied the information,
01:06emphasizing that Pazeshkian will not abandon his duty to serve the people.
01:11The resignation claims originated from the exiled opposition media outlet Iran International,
01:16which reported that Pazeshkian had sent a letter to the Supreme Leader's Office expressing frustration over being excluded from major
01:24national decision-making processes.
01:26According to those reports, the president complained that hard-line factions, particularly within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC,
01:35had gained significant influence over state affairs, making it difficult for his government to effectively carry out its responsibilities.
01:44While the resignation itself has been denied, a separate leaked letter has exposed deep fractures within Iran's leadership.
01:53According to multiple news reports, senior Iranian politicians, including President Pazeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagar Galabath,
02:02signed a secret letter to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urging negotiations with the United States over Iran's nuclear program.
02:11This letter underscores that the president and government have been excluded from the country's decision-making process,
02:16while IRGC officials control everything, Iran International reported.
02:21The leaked correspondence reveals a fundamental conflict within the regime.
02:26One faction believes negotiations are necessary to stabilize the country,
02:30while hard-liners view even discussing the nuclear issue as a clear violation of red lines.
02:36Some opponents, such as diplomat Ali Ba'irikhani, are even said to have deliberately circulated the letter to undermine Galabath,
02:44a close ally of the new Supreme Leader.
02:47Hard-liners, including Mahmoud Nabavihan, deputy head of the National Security Commission,
02:52have openly referred to the talks as a strategic mistake.
02:56The public response from Iranian leaders has been to emphasize unity.
03:01Galabath stated,
03:02There are no hard-liners or moderates in Iran.
03:05We are all Iranians and revolutionaries.
03:08While Pazeshkian issued similar statements.
03:11However, these identical statements have been described as untrustworthy and unconvincing by observers.
03:18Collective wartime leadership under IRGC dominance.
03:22The internal conflicts reflect a deeper transformation of Iran's power structure.
03:27Following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening phase of the war,
03:32and his Slan Mojtaba's ascension under constrained circumstances,
03:36authority has shifted toward a collective security leadership dominated by the IRGC.
03:41Since the Islamic Republic's founding, ultimate authority rested with a Supreme Leader,
03:46whose decisions were final across state affairs, Reuters reported.
03:51Such a model has now been replaced, at least in practice,
03:54by a decentralized but tightly controlled wartime structure centered on the Supreme National Security Council,
04:00the Supreme Leader's office apparatus, and senior IRGC commanders.
04:06Mujtaba Khamenei, now 56, was formally named his father's successor by the Assembly of Experts.
04:12However, sources describe his role as largely ceremonial.
04:15He functions as a figure of assent rather than command.
04:19He is more ready than other candidates to quickly consolidate power and assert control over the system,
04:25said Vali R. Nasser, an expert on Iran at Johns Hopkins University.
04:28However, multiple individuals familiar with internal deliberations say Mujtaba's role is to endorse decisions
04:35already shaped by military and security elites, rather than to set direction himself.
04:40He was severely injured in the opening strikes of the war, and has not appeared publicly,
04:46communicating instead through IRGC intermediaries, or restricted audio channels.
04:51We've gone from divine power to hard power, said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator.
04:58From the influence of the clerics to the influence of the Revolutionary Guard Corps,
05:03this is how Iran is being governed.
05:06Economic collapse deepens crisis.
05:09The leadership divisions come as Iran's economy teeters on the brink of collapse.
05:14According to a recent Reuters analysis,
05:17Iranian authorities see the truce with the United States as a strategic victory,
05:21but they emerge battered and isolated, with an economy in tatters,
05:25little prospect of rapid recovery, and an impoverished, embittered population.
05:30After weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes, many Iranians have lost their jobs.
05:36Prices have surged, while factories, power plants, railways, airports, and bridges have been destroyed.
05:43Critical trading relationships with Gulf states have been severed, maybe for decades.
05:48One Iranian official said the scale of damage meant the largest industrial facilities driving the economy
05:54would take months or years to repair, and the country will face a disaster if sanctions are not lifted.
06:01Unemployment has soared, with millions experiencing job losses, income reductions, or business closures,
06:07said Umud Shokri, Senior Visiting Fellow at George Mason University.
06:12Prices have risen approximately 40% since the war began,
06:15and there is a reluctance among consumers to buy anything other than necessities.
06:20In interviews with Iranian political insiders, business owners, and analysts,
06:25Reuters charted a country near the brink of economic collapse,
06:28its leaders fearful of a poorer, uncertain future, the report concluded.
06:33Hardliners attempt to derail negotiations.
06:37The political infighting has directly impacted ongoing negotiations with the United States.
06:42A vocal hardline faction, described as a small but loud faction with members in parliament
06:48and a seat on the Supreme National Security Council,
06:51has openly opposed any concessions to Washington,
06:54using rallies, state media, and public statements as tools to try to derail a deal.
06:59At a packed rally of hardline supporters in Tehran on Friday,
07:03large crowds waved flags and chanted for defiance.
07:06We want them to punish them good, one woman said.
07:10Stand firm. We are with you until our last drop of blood, said another protester.
07:15State television, controlled by a hardline director,
07:18has amplified divisions in the country and portrayed negotiations as a failure.
07:22This prompted Pezashkian to scold state television officials this week,
07:26urging them to avoid sowing internal division.
07:29Pezashkian reminded them that even the late supreme leader
07:32agreed that we must go to the negotiation table.
07:35But now, he continued, we are advertising that we should not negotiate.
07:40No one decision-making command structure.
07:44The fractured leadership has created a paralyzing decision-making environment.
07:49The Iranians are painfully slow in their response,
07:52said a senior Pakistani government official briefed on mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington.
07:56There is apparently no one decision-making command structure.
08:01At times, it takes them two to three days to respond.
08:05Observers note that these structural constraints significantly complicate any potential agreement with the United States.
08:11The central obstacle remains the widening gap between what Washington is willing to offer
08:16and what Iran's hardline security establishment is prepared to accept.
08:21The decision to restrict Internet access was initially made by the Supreme National Security Council,
08:26an Iranian official noted,
08:28illustrating how power has shifted away from the presidency towards security institutions.
08:33As one analyst put it,
08:34this is a hardline choice made in a hardline moment.
08:38For now, despite the internal conflicts,
08:41Iran has shown no visible signs of political capitulation to U.S. pressure.
08:46to U.S. pressure.
08:46to U.S. pressure.
08:46to U.S. pressure.
08:46to U.S. pressure.
08:46to U.S. pressure.
