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.”
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.
