Iran International
Moderates in Tehran—often accused by rivals of weakening the system—are now accusing the hardliners of undermining the supreme leader's authority through escalating factional battles.
The charge came from prominent politician Hossein Marashi, head of the centrist Construction Party, who on Wednesday accused ultraconservatives of striking a discordant note on matters of foreign policy and national security.
“(They) cannot bring themselves to act within the overall framework of the political system,” Marashi told the centrist outlet Khabar Online.
“Either their level of understanding is very low, or they fail to grasp that the president, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), and the foreign minister do not speak, decide, or act without careful calculation and coordination with the system’s general policies.”
The “system,” in official parlance, refers to the supreme leader.
When asked if hardliners’ attacks on the moderate administration should be seen as an indirect challenge to Khamenei himself, Marashi said: “I think those in parliament are capable of slighting the Leader even.”
Araghchi under fire
Since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, Tehran moderates inside and outside president Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration have been advocating direct negotiations with Washington.
Yet some have also begun questioning the chief protagonist of diplomacy, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, urging that he be replaced by former nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi.
Replacing Araghchi, however, appears unrealistic.
On September 18, Hadi Borhani, an expert on Israeli affairs, suggested instead that the president appoint Salehi as his plenipotentiary envoy for regional affairs.
But it is unclear what Salehi could do that Araghchi cannot: decisions are made by the SNSC and ultimately by the supreme leader.
Moderates appear to be playing the same game they accuse hardliners of—shooting the messenger when the author of the message is untouchable.
'MPs abusing powers'
That may explain some of their broader criticisms of the foreign ministry.
Prominent centrist and former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbaschi argued on Thursday that the ministry remains dominated by hardliners from the previous administration.
“Only two or three individuals from Amir-Abdollahian and Raisi’s team have been replaced in the current government,” he told Khabar Online, referring to the late foreign minister and president killed in a helicopter crash in May 2024.
The harshest attacks, however, are reserved for rival hardliners in parliament.
“What these lawmakers do to government officials is beyond their official mandate and amounts to abuse,” Karbaschi said, accusing MPs of putting factional feuds above national interests with their impeachment threats.
The ultraconservatives summoned Araghchi over his Cairo agreement with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, a move Karbaschi likened to stretching oversight powers to the point of undermining national security.
“He hasn’t done badly, but his efforts haven’t led to any breakthrough,” Karbaschi said of Araghchi’s record.
“Some of the accusations are at the level of spreading corruption on earth, and if the court proves them, his punishment will be execution,” Kamran Ghazanfari said in an interview with Iran24, referring to a formal charge in the theocracy's law.
“He has already inflicted enough damage and loss on the country. One example is the nuclear deal, which was entirely a loss. He took pride in it.”
The remarks suggest increasing tension within Iran's ruling establishment as geopolitical uncertainty festers following a 12-day war with Israel in June, new international sanctions loom and economic hardship bites.
Ghazanfari said the previous parliament filed eight complaints against Rouhani which were all forwarded to the judiciary. He accused judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei of failing to act, despite a legal obligation to give such cases priority.
“Was Rouhani tried? Was he punished or not? If so, explain. If not, explain why he has not been tried and punished.”
Ghazanfari also referred to another case sent to the judiciary by late President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, accusing Rouhani of involvement in the disappearance of 48 valuable carpets from the Saadabad Palace.
Rouhani’s office at the time rejected the allegation as a political distraction.
Criticism of nuclear deal
Ghazanfari again attacked the nuclear agreement, calling it “entirely a loss.”
“Rouhani should remain silent, rest at home, and not enter such matters,” he said, arguing that when no legal action is taken “He dares to talk big.”
His comments come as Britain, France, and Germany have triggered the nuclear deal’s snapback mechanism against Iran. Western governments have set conditions, including granting the International Atomic Energy Agency access to enriched uranium stockpiles, with a deadline at the end of September.
Under Resolution 2231, sanctions will automatically return after 30 days unless the Security Council votes otherwise.
Rouhani defends dialogue
Rouhani has re-emerged in recent weeks to call for reducing confrontation with the West, including the United States.
“Relations with Europe, our neighbors, and the East and the West, even tension with the US, if we can reduce it, if it is in our national interest, what is wrong with that? Not only is it not wrong, but it is also our duty and obligation,” he told advisers in late August.
Rouhani argued that Iran should pursue talks if they advance national interests and security. In comments on August 14, he described negotiations with the United States as necessary and obligatory.
His remarks was in apparent conflict with the supreme leader's position who on the same day warned against advocating talks with Washington. “Agents of America and Zionism sought to create division inside Iran,” Khamenei said.
Beyond Mahsa Amini — the most internationally recognized martyr for the cause — the names of Nika Shakarami, Hadis Najafi, Sarina Esmailzadeh, Mohsen Shekari, Mohammad Hosseini and others have been engraved in the collective memory of Iranians who remember them affectionately by their first names.
Each represented a different facet of society: women demanding autonomy, teenagers daring to risk their futures, children like 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak killed by a stray bullet and young men executed for their solidarity with women's plight.
The spark: Mahsa "Jina" Amini
The protests began with the death of Mahsa "Jina" Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested by Iran’s morality police on September 13, 2022, over the state’s mandatory hijab law.
She was critically injured in custody and died days later in the hospital.
Her name became a rallying cry, her image circulated widely on social media and protest banners across Iran and beyond. Amini's innocence and tragic death resonated deeply with ordinary Iranians, making her the most enduring icon of a movement that sought not just reform but a different future.
Nika Shakarami: the young rebel
Sixteen-year-old Nika Shakarami vanished after joining a Tehran protest in the early days of the uprising. A video captured her shortly before her disappearance, standing on a trash bin, burning her headscarf and chanting “Down with the dictator" with other protesters.
Ten days later, her body was returned to her family under suspicious circumstances. Authorities claimed she fell from a building. Her relatives disputed this, saying her nose was broken and she was beaten. A BBC World report in May 2024 alleged she was sexually assaulted and murdered.
Nika was known for her creativity and love of the arts — poetry, drawing, and music. She dreamed of becoming a professional singer. Outspoken and spirited, her short life of artistic aspiration and teenage defiance became a symbol of how ordinary young Iranians risked everything for freedom.
Hadis Najafi: 22-year-old TikToker
Hadis Najafi, 22, was shot multiple times in the face, neck, chest, abdomen and hand during a protest rally in Karaj in central Iran. Her family was pressured to announce she had died of natural causes.
Najafi frequently posted on TikTok and Instagram, sharing glimpses of her daily life. In a video recorded before she was killed, she said: “I like to think that when I look back on this a few years later, I’ll be pleased I joined the protest.”
Her mother told Iran International that Hadis joined the protests both to mourn Mahsa Amini and to oppose the theocracy's mandatory Islamic dress code for women. Before leaving home, Hadis said she hoped that years later when change comes to Iran she could look back and be glad she had taken part.
Sarina Esmailzadeh: freedom-loving teenager
Sixteen-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh from Karaj was a bright, curious teenager with broad interests. She loved cooking, K-pop music and making playful videos for her YouTube and TikTok channels.
She spoke candidly about justice and freedom. In one post she asked: “What can people expect from their own country? Welfare, welfare, welfare. Nothing else. Why am I not like that teenager in New York who doesn’t have to worry about the compulsory hijab or economic hardship?”
Her online presence, blending humor, music and political awareness, made her a powerful symbol of the courage and aspirations of Iran’s Gen Z.
Mehrshad Shahidi: a voice silenced too soon
Security forces beat 19-year-old chef Mehrshad Shahidi to death with batons at a Revolutionary Guards detention center in Arak, a day before his twentieth birthday in October 2022. Authorities pressured his family to say he died of a heart attack.
Thousands attended his funeral, chanting anti-government slogans. Mehrshad was already head chef at a local restaurant, studying hospitality at university, and a decorated athlete in gymnastics, volleyball, and swimming.
Authorities never tried those accused of his killing, instead threatening his family with destroying his grave — a site still visited by mourners — if they held public commemorations.
Shekari and Hosseini: death sentences for defiance
Mohsen Shekari, 23, and Mohammad Hosseini, 39, were among the first protesters executed after closed-door trials in late 2022 and early 2023. Their deaths, intended as deterrence, became instead rallying cries.
Shekari, a café worker and self-taught guitarist, was arrested during a Tehran protest. Hosseini, a martial arts champion working on a chicken farm, was arrested after attending the memorial for Hadis Najafi in Karaj, where security forces shot dead three protesters.
Shekari was arrested at a protest rally in the west of the capital. Hosseini was arrested a day after the crackdown on a remembrance ceremony for Hadis Najafi in Karaj during which three protesters were shot dead by security forces.
Both were accused of injuring Basij militia members. They denied the charges, and rights groups reported their televised confessions were extracted under torture.
Their executions underscored the movement’s human cost — ordinary men defying extraordinary repression and paying with their lives.
