Iran's political establishment continues to send mixed signals on its openness to talks with Washington, as the deputy speaker of parliament said Wednesday that Tehran supports negotiations, while a leading hardline newspaper doubled-down on its opposition.
Hamidreza Hajibabaei, the senior lawmaker and former minister in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration, told the media that Tehran has no “enmity or war with America.”
“We are open to negotiations, but they must be fair,” he added.
Iranian officials repeatedly stress the need for fair negotiations, indicating that any demands must fall within the scope of what they are willing to accept.
During talks between the two sides a decade ago, Tehran strongly rejected the inclusion of non-nuclear issues, including its ballistic missile program and regional activities.
Prior to Hajibabaei's remarks, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who holds the highest authority in the Islamic Republic, cautioned top government officials to remain vigilant during any negotiations.
Several state-controlled media outlets and commentators interpreted this as a subtle signal of Khamenei’s approval for talks with the Trump administration.
In contrast, the ultra-hardliner Kayhan newspaper, with close ties to Khamenei’s office, sharply criticized the US for pressing maximalist demands on the Islamic Republic. According to Kayhan, these demands included imposing limits on its missile program, reducing its nuclear activities to what it described as a symbolic level, and prohibiting its interventions in the region.
Despite a rising number of Iranian officials and commentators, who are permitted to speak to the media, advocating for negotiations, Kayhan maintained that Tehran does not see an urgent need to negotiate the lifting of sanctions.
The country’s economic crisis, which has been ongoing for some time, has deepened in recent months, with the national currency losing more than half of its value and Iran facing severe shortages.
"The discussion of negotiations with the US, which will certainly lead nowhere, causes powerful governments that have formed the opposing front against the US to doubt Iran's seriousness in economic and multilateral cooperation," Kayhan's analysis concluded, potentially hinting at a partnership deal Tehran recently formalized with Moscow. "As a result, they may refrain from entering major partnerships with the Islamic Republic. Therefore, negotiating with the US is a lose-lose game for us and a win-win for the US."
