EU foreign policy chief warns Iran poses threat to international peace

"Behind the smiles of diplomacy, there are always hidden and malicious enmities and resentments. We must open our eyes and be careful with whom we are dealing, trading, and talking," Khamenei said at a gathering of top military and political figures.

Sitting beside President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has publicly expressed openness to US talks, Khamenei continued: “When a person knows his opponent, he may make a deal, but he knows what to do. We must know and understand."

Although Khamenei did not explicitly address relations with the US, his call for vigilance was construed by many, particularly Reformist media in Tehran, as a tacit green light to talks with Washington.

These outlets emphasized what they called a noticeable shift in his tone, which appeared more open to the possibility of a potential deal, signaling a subtle but significant softening in his rhetoric.

Khamenei is known for speaking in circuitous and obscure terms when addressing the competing power factions within the governing system he leads.

He rarely takes clear political or diplomatic stances, often opting to remain behind a shield of deniability. Over a decade ago, he also cautioned Iran's negotiators during nuclear talks, positioning himself more as a bystander than a decision-maker.

The ultimate decision maker of the Islamic Republic for most of its nearly 50-year history, Khamenei's rule is backed by a feared domestic security apparatus has fended off an assassination attempt, popular uprisings, armed insurgencies and terrorist attacks.

“The Supreme Leader's statements today clearly demonstrate that diplomacy must be conducted with a thorough understanding of the other side and their animosities," Mohammad-Hossein Ranjbaran, an advisor to the foreign minister, wrote on X.

"This is a clear message for everyone to move forward on this difficult path with solidarity and consensus.”

Reformist commentator Mohammad-Ali Ahangaran said: “The Supreme Leader, if he intended to reject the possibility of negotiations, should have done so in today’s speech."

“However, the wise Leader of the Revolution, through today’s warnings and clarifications, showed that he has a different plan — a plan that has, for some time, deprived a group of ultra-revolutionaries... of peace and rest,” he added.

'Financial elites'

Khamenei also pointed to what he called the duplicity of US diplomacy, citing alleged examples of American support for violence against civilians.

"When US Congress members applaud the butcher responsible for the massacre of thousands of children, or when they award a medal to the captain of the American warship that shot down an Iranian passenger plane with 300 civilians aboard, these acts reveal their malicious and hidden enmity behind their diplomatic smiles," Khamenei added.

He was referring to the war in Gaza and Iran Air Flight 655, a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down in 1988 by two surface-to-air missiles fired by USS Vincennes, a United States Navy warship.

Khamenei also accused the United States of being beholden to powerful financial elites, echoing recent domestic criticisms of the new administration of Donald Trump as being too close to prominent billionaires.

"The US government stands as the pinnacle of arrogant and colonial powers, heavily influenced by the world's top financial elites,” he said.

Khamenei framed modern imperialism as a continuation of past colonialism.

"The history of colonialism shows three stages: the plunder of natural resources, the destruction of authentic cultures, and the seizure of national and religious identities. Today, the powerful and malevolent global systems are imposing all three stages of colonialism on nations," he said.

"Every day, major financial cartels devise new ways to reshape the identity and interests of nations and expand their colonial dominance," Khamenei noted.

Praise for Hezbollah, Gaza

Khamenei lauded what Iran calls resistance movements in the Middle East, saying that Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to stand strong despite the loss of prominent leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah who was killed by Israel in September.

"This (Nasrallah’s death) is no joke. How many individuals of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah’s stature exist in the world? After his loss, while friends and foes assumed Hezbollah’s end was near, the organization proved otherwise. In some cases, it stood stronger and more motivated against the Zionist regime," he said.

Iran is widely perceived to have had its strategic stature in the region deeply weakened by Israeli military blows in the 15-month conflict that has gripped the Mideast since Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

"Gaza, a small and limited region, has brought the heavily armed Zionist regime, fully backed by the US, to its knees. Gaza defeating the Zionist regime is no small feat.”

The meeting on Tuesday also featured remarks from President Pezeshkian, who stressed the importance of unity and justice in the face of global challenges, drawing on allegories from the life of Prophet Muhammad, whose revelation anniversary was the event's centerpiece.

"The prophets’ mission was to establish justice and eliminate divisions and conflicts," Pezeshkian said. "The Prophet Muhammad’s first act after migrating to Medina was to create brotherhood among feuding tribes. Today, more than ever, Iran, Islamic societies and all nations need to embrace this perspective."

“In the coming weeks and months, you will see a different face of the Islamic Republic. It will not speak the language of jihad, hostage-taking, or chaos. It will talk of deal-making, mutual interest, and pragmatism,” Pahlavi said at a National Press Club event in Washington DC on Tuesday.

“The United States has a choice—will it seek to use the leverage and this historic opportunity to fundamentally alter the trajectory of the Middle East and the world, or will it fall for the flirtations of a radical Islamic regime and hand the Middle East back to its radical, terrorist proxies?”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed openness to direct negotiations with the new Trump administration on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, though hardliners and Iran's Supreme Leader remain publicly opposed.

Trump withdrew the United States from an international nuclear deal with Iran in his first term and has said Tehran cannot be allowed to have nuclear arms, though he has appeared to rule out seeking the overthrow of the nearly fifty-year-old theocracy.

Pahlavi warned that the Islamic Republic of Iran remains the region’s chief obstacle to peace and prosperity, saying the weakening of Hamas in Gaza, the fall of Assad in Syria and the decapitation of Hezbollah in Lebanon present a historic opportunity.

“The Middle East is on the cusp of fundamental change—a reset that has the potential to course-correct decades of terror, conflict, and chaos to peace, prosperity, and stability.”

The exiled prince, who has resided in the Washington DC area for most of his life, said in apparent nod to Trump's opposition to foreign wars that no military intervention by the United States was required.

“Mr. President, anyone telling you that you have to sacrifice the lives of your brave troops to see change in Iran and a peaceful Middle East is lying to you,” saying the Iranian people would topple their own oppressors, whom he called "the world’s chief warmonger."

"Funding of proxies will continue. Regional instability will continue. Interference in the affairs of other countries will continue. Radicalization will continue," Pahlavi said. "None of that will change. Again, as I said, it's in the DNA of the regime. This DNA hasn't changed for 45 years. We should not expect it will change in the next 45 years."

Previously, Reza Pahlavi, in a letter to Donald Trump, warned the new US administration against trusting the Islamic Republic and emphasized that Trump has the opportunity to end the tyranny in Iran through a policy of maximum pressure.

"Based on our follow-up efforts, this journalist has been imprisoned and captured by the Zionist regime," Iran's official ISNA quoted Peyman Jebelli as saying.

He said that the family did not wish for the matter to be made public, emphasizing that the journalist remains in captivity in Israel, not Gaza.

Without disclosing the journalist’s identity, or the timing of the detention, Jebelli expressed hope that the journalist would be freed from captivity soon.

Israeli officials have not yet made any announcements or confirmed the detention of the unnamed journalist affiliated with the Iran and it is unclear how he could have entered the Jewish state with whom Iran has no diplomatic ties.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, Israel has imposed restrictions on foreign journalists entering Gaza. The Israeli High Court ruled in January 2024 that the ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza could continue, citing ongoing security concerns.

"We are ready for any confrontation, and we are prepared to respond to threats in the field of cyber warfare," IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news quoted Mohammad Bagheri as saying following the final phase of a large-scale military exercise in western Iran.

The fighting talk comes as US President Donald Trump promises a maximum pressure approach on Iran with the new premier not denying that he will give the green light to Iran's archenemy Israel to target the country's nuclear facilities.

Bagheri spoke of the country's focus on technology as the attention now moves beyond the conventional battlefield, including attack and defense drones.

"Due to the development and promotion of artificial intelligence and robotics, modern battles are significantly different from those in the past," he said.

"Accordingly, the Army’s Ground Forces maximized the use of these two technologies during the exercise in the western region, and with the equipment produced by the Army's Research and Self-Sufficiency Organization, the robotic operations were executed and assessed."

"Their grossly unfair trial was marred by allegations of torture and forced confessions," Amnesty said in a statement Monday.

Behrouz Ehsani, 69, and Mehdi Hassani, 48, had their death sentences upheld by Iran's Supreme Court earlier this month.

Mostafa Nili, a lawyer representing Ehsani, said on Monday that the Supreme Court had ordered a temporary halt to Ensani's execution.

"Today, along with my esteemed colleague Mr. Babak Paknia, we visited the Supreme Court branch. We learned that the branch, in accordance with the law, issued an order yesterday to halt the execution of Mr. Behrouz Ehsani Aslamlou's sentence. The sentence will not be carried out until the review of the retrial request is completed," Nili wrote in a post on X.

No such announcement has been made regarding Hassani, leaving his fate uncertain.

According to Norway based rights group, Iran Human Rights (IHR), the two men were arrested at the height of Iran's nationwide Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

IHR said Ehsani and Hassani were notified of their death sentences on the second anniversary of the protests in September 2024. According to IHR the two men were sentenced to death on charges of baghy (armed rebellion) and moharebeh (enmity against god) through “membership in Mojahedin Organisation [MEK] and collecting classified information.”

“In recent days, officials of the Islamic Republic have linked the murders of Judges Moghiseh and Razini to MEK, paving the way for the execution of prisoners associated with the organisation," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam in a statement.

"For this reason, the risk of these prisoners' execution is very serious. We call on the international community, human rights organisations, and the people of Iran to increase the political cost of these executions through their efforts," he added.

Judges Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, assassinated in Tehran on January 18, had decades-long histories of handing down death sentences and lengthy prison terms to dissidents in numerous cases.

According to Amnesty, Ehsani was held in solitary confinement for 50 days in section 240 of Evin prison, where agents pressured him to make forced confessions under psychological torture, including threats of flogging, execution, and harm to his family, which he resisted. He was later moved to section 209 for 75 days before being transferred to a general ward.

Similarly, Hassani was held in solitary confinement for six months and forced to write self-incriminating statements under torture. According to Amnesty both men were denied contact with their families during these periods.

Amnesty urged Iranian authorities to halt the executions immediately and quash their convictions and sentences.