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President Massoud Pezeshkian’s increasingly public confrontations with Iran’s state broadcaster have exposed the limits of his authority, underscoring how one of the country’s most powerful institutions operates beyond the reach of its elected government.
The tensions erupted most visibly on Wednesday, when Pezeshkian angrily confronted the head of state television during a cabinet meeting, accusing the broadcaster of refusing to show his administration’s progress.
The exchange was being aired live before the broadcast was abruptly cut off.
During a visit to Golestan Province the following day, Pezeshkian became embroiled in a heated argument on live television with a provincial commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over the military’s role in development projects.
This time, the cameras kept rolling. The commander looked directly into the lens and declared that the IRGC had fulfilled its duties—and that the government had not.
Together, the incidents offered a rare public glimpse into the president’s inability to control institutions that shape both policy and public perception in the Islamic Republic.
Moderate and reformist outlets have rallied to Pezeshkian’s defense, portraying the clash as a sign of the broadcaster’s unchecked power.
“For state TV, news is not the priority; controlling the narrative is,” read a commentary on Rouydad24. If the president’s message does not align with the broadcaster’s preferred narrative, the report said, “it will either ignore him or cut the broadcast.”
An editorial on Khabar Online added that the network’s decision to cut Pezeshkian’s speech reflected “a kind of intoxication with power” and an exaggerated sense of confidence.
“Even if the highest executive authority in the country takes a position against this broadcaster, it feels powerful enough to ignore it entirely,” the editorial said.
Clashes between Iranian presidents and state television are not new. Every president except Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose brother ran the broadcaster during much of his presidency, faced friction with the organization.
Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Rouhani all had public disputes with IRIB, the Islamic Republic’s state broadcaster. Rouhani barred a former IRIB chief from cabinet meetings, while Ahmadinejad withheld the network’s allocated budget to punish its managers.
But Pezeshkian’s confrontations come at a moment of growing public dissatisfaction and economic strain, weakening his ability to assert authority. He had promised salary increases of 21% to 43% for government employees, but with inflation running at 60%, even those raises would leave workers falling behind rising prices.
At the same time, Pezeshkian has publicly acknowledged the emotional toll of recent unrest, saying he “can hardly sleep at night” after January’s bloody crackdown. Yet his government’s inability to improve economic conditions or assert control over powerful institutions has reinforced perceptions of weakness.
What much of the media avoids stating openly is that Iran’s state broadcaster answers only to the Supreme Leader. As long as he approves of its conduct, no other authority—not even the president’s—can compel it to change course.
The result is a system in which the elected president can be openly challenged, contradicted, or even silenced by unelected institutions.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Iran’s leadership lacks legitimacy, accusing the government of killing its own people to stay in power.
Wong told Australia’s Senate that Canberra has strongly condemned Iran’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters and has called for respect for the right to protest, an end to killings, arbitrary detentions and internet shutdowns.
She pointed to Australia’s measures including sanctions on more than 200 individuals and entities linked to Iran’s authorities, including more than 100 tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as steps such as expelling Iran’s ambassador and designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
US Representative Cory Mills said he joined a gathering of 350,000 Iranian Americans in Los Angeles seeking the overthrow of what he called a “brutal Islamic dictatorship.”
He said the current moment has created an opportunity to remove the Islamic Republic, protect US allies and help bring stability to the region.
He added, “As Trump has said, help is on the way.”
Iran is prepared to consider steps on its stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of a nuclear deal with the United States, but the demand for zero enrichment is not on the table, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview published on Sunday.
Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that Tehran was ready to discuss curbs on its nuclear program, including measures related to its roughly 400 kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, if Washington was willing to lift sanctions.
“If they are ready to talk about sanctions, we are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our nuclear program,” he said, adding that it was too early to say what specific steps might emerge from negotiations.
Iran is prepared to consider steps on its stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of a nuclear deal with the United States, but the demand for zero enrichment is not on the table, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in an interview published on Sunday.
Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that Tehran was ready to discuss curbs on its nuclear program, including measures related to its roughly 400 kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, if Washington was willing to lift sanctions.
“If they are ready to talk about sanctions, we are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our nuclear program,” he said, adding that it was too early to say what specific steps might emerge from negotiations.
Iran’s atomic energy chief said on Monday that Tehran could dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for the removal of all financial sanctions, a point Takht-Ravanchi cited as an example of Iran’s flexibility.
However, he repeated that the idea of ending all uranium enrichment in Iran – a longstanding US position and a major sticking point in past talks – would not be accepted.
“The issue of zero enrichment is no longer raised and, as far as Iran is concerned, is not on the negotiating table,” he said.
Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington resumed in Oman earlier this month, with a second round scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva, Takht-Ravanchi confirmed.
“(Initial talks went) more or less in a positive direction, but it is too early to judge,” he said.
A US delegation including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is expected to meet Iranian officials in Geneva, with Omani representatives mediating.
Takht-Ravanchi said the “ball is in the US court” to demonstrate it is serious about reaching an agreement, adding that Washington had publicly and privately, through Oman, expressed interest in a peaceful resolution.
While Tehran has signaled readiness to negotiate limits on its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief, it has repeatedly ruled out discussions on its ballistic missile program. Takht-Ravanchi reaffirmed that position, saying Iran would not deprive itself of what it considers defensive capabilities.
“When we were attacked by the Israelis and the Americans, our missiles came to our help. So how can we accept depriving ourselves of our defensive capabilities?” he said.
Iran has also rejected linking the nuclear talks to its regional policies, including support for allied armed groups, an issue increasingly raised in US political discourse around the negotiations.
