Iran’s hardliners are working to undermine the country’s reformist president and preclude negotiations with the US despite growing threats from Donald Trump, raising the prospect of heightened tension between the two countries.
Masoud Pezeshkian’s election less than a year ago appeared to herald an opportunity to engage with Washington, as the reformist leader vowed to seek a deal over the country’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
His plan now appears in tatters. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the regime’s ultimate decision maker — last month ruled out talks with Washington after Trump, the US president, reimposed the “maximum pressure” sanctions policy from his first term.