Iran International
Conflicting narratives from Iranian officialdom on negotiations with the United States may indicate a sort of organized chaos aimed at prolonging diplomatic theater without any real intention of reaching a resolution.
This pattern of contradictory statements suggests a deliberate strategy.
By constantly shifting positions and contradicting one another, Iranian officials may be attempting to prolong indirect messaging with Washington while avoiding actual negotiations, perhaps hoping to stall until Donald Trump leaves office.
On Monday, security chief Ali Larijani declared that Iran rejects Western demands to limit its nuclear program, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s commitment to strengthening the so-called “axis of resistance.”
The United States and Europe have made halting uranium enrichment, ending support for regional proxy groups and curbing missile development key conditions for lifting sanctions and potentially normalizing relations with Iran.
Larijani also asked, “What right does the West have to talk about the range of Iran’s missiles?” and insisted that Tehran would not “surrender to the West even at the cost of full-fledged confrontation.”
His remarks likely reflect calculated defiance.
Larijani is well aware that Iran’s missile program is a major source of concern for Europe and neighboring countries, especially given Tehran’s military cooperation with Russia in the war against Ukraine and its provision of missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Yet he avoids questioning why Iran continues to involve itself in conflicts in Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza.
Following Iran’s missile response to Israeli strikes in June, and its operations targeting Iraqi Kurdistan and tribal areas in Pakistan in the past, Western powers and regional neighbors are under no illusion: Iran is willing to deploy missiles and drones whenever its clerical leadership or Revolutionary Guards commanders deem it necessary.
Despite ongoing public discourse by Iranian officials and media commentators about resolving the diplomatic impasse, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and at times President Pezeshkian, Araghchi and Larijani have made it clear that Iran has no intention of negotiating directly with the United States.
Khamenei recently said that hostility toward the United States is intrinsic to the Islamic Republic’s identity. But on Monday, Larijani asserted that none of Iran’s leaders have ever had any enmity with the West.
Adding to the confusion, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani acknowledged that Iran has received messages from the United States, while the foreign ministry flatly denied any such contact.
'Cannot continue'
Meanwhile, media outlets continue to fuel the narrative of “talks about talks.”
On Monday, ILNA quoted foreign policy analyst Amir-Ali Abolfath as saying, “We are in the middle of a US attack on Iran.”
“Attacks don’t always come with guns and tanks," he added. "There are cyber wars, cognitive warfare, economic wars and sanctions. We are at war with the United States, only the sound of gunfire is missing.”
Abolfath concluded that the divide between Tehran and Washington is unbridgeable.
In contrast, commentator Ali Bigdeli, writing for Fararu, suggested that Iran should seek mediation from International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi to break the deadlock despite Grossi’s recent warning that Tehran could still eventually build a nuclear weapon.
While many Iranian commentators warned on Monday of imminent conflict with Israel or the United States, Bigdeli reassured Fararu readers that “another war is unlikely to break out.”
In a separate Fararu piece, analyst Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani added, “another war is unlikely unless unrest erupts inside Iran.”
That paradox in official messaging may be untenable, Bigdeli warned: “The current situation cannot continue for long.”
