Khamenei rejects US talks in setback to Trump hopes for a nuclear deal

Hamid Aboutalebi, a political adviser to Iran’s former President Hassan Rouhani urged President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to seize the opportunity for comprehensive negotiations with the Trump administration.

Amid the usual rhetoric and slogans repeated by various Iranian politicians following Trump's remarks, Aboutalebi’s comments stood out as more novel and pragmatic.

Referring to Trump's mooted openness to talks with his political counterpart, Aboutalebi suggested in a post on X that the Iranian president should call Trump to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Trump offered to speak his Iranian counterpart after issuing a memorandum this week ramping up sanctions under a “maximum pressure” policy against Tehran.

Iran's president on Wednesday played down the memorandum aimed at reducing Tehran's oil exports to zero but offered no reaction after Trump said he was willing to speak with his Iranian counterpart.

Aboutalebi warned Araghchi that potentially renewed United Nations sanctions could devastate an already struggling economy and accused the foreign minister of sapping the government's will for talks with intransigent statements.

"Despite claims to the contrary, Pezeshkian's lack of urgency suggests he has sidelined foreign policy and the issue of lifting sanctions," he wrote.

"At the same time, your opposition to negotiations, your warnings to officials who support diplomacy, and your dismissive attitude toward President Trump have only contributed to Pezeshkian's indifference."

Araghchi’s recent public comments have been interpreted by some media outlets in Tehran as unhelpful and dismissive toward opening talks with President Trump.

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Aboutalebi was appointed as Iran's ambassador to the UN delegation in New York in 2013, but the United States denied him a visa, citing his alleged involvement in the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran.

Despite his alleged role in the embassy seizure, Aboutalebi later emerged as a moderate politician by the theocracy's standards and served as the political deputy to Rouhani's chief of staff.

Aboutalebi praised the approach taken by Mexican and Canadian officials in responding to Trump's executive order on tariffs, noting that "while Trump took a hardline approach by issuing executive orders against America's allies in Canada and Mexico, he opted for a much softer measure with Iran by issuing an executive memorandum."

He suggested Iran could adopt a similar strategy to ease tensions with the United States, which may worsen once the US government steps up sanctions.

Sadegh Zibakalam, a public intellectual and vocal critic of Tehran hardliners, published an essay asking what Iran has gained with 46 years of confrontation with the United States.

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“No one is suggesting, nor does anyone even consider, that we should become subservient to the United States, blindly accepting whatever they dictate and becoming dependent on them," Zibakalam argued.

"This is a completely incorrect interpretation. Rather, the goal is to ease tensions and conflicts and move toward an environment of engagement.”

Still, government officials appeared in no rush to bless the idea of talks.

Vice President Mohammad Aref said Wednesday, "Talks between Pezeshkian and Trump are not on the agenda of the Islamic Republic."

Meanwhile, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani offered little more than a reiteration of the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy principles: dignity, wisdom, and prudence—whatever those may entail.

Foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Thursday that the government has contacted the Swedish Institute of International Affairs for more information, calling the allegations “very serious.”

She warned that Iran, along with Russia and China, is conducting extensive intelligence operations in Sweden.

Parsi has denied collaborating with Tehran.

Swedish TV channel, TV4 Nyheterna, reported on January 29 that Parsi communicated with authorities in Tehran who actively sought to amplify official Iranian foreign policy talking points in Western policy circles.

The discussions, TV4 reported, aimed to shape Western perceptions of Iran during critical nuclear negotiations.

TV4 said Parsi had held meetings with Iranian diplomats, including former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and worked alongside senior figures who were closely affiliated with the IRGC.

In 2023, a joint investigative report by Iran International and Semafor combed through thousands of emails from Iranian diplomats, revealing a network of academics and think tank analysts cultivated by Iran's foreign ministry to extend Tehran's soft power.

Members of the grouping, called the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), were guided by Iran's Foreign Ministry in their public writing and media appearances. They were key voices in Western thinktanks and policy institutions helping promote Iran's stances.

Parsi, listed in the leaked emails as an IEI member, attended its inaugural meeting in May 2014 at Vienna’s Palais Coburg hotel, coinciding with international nuclear talks. Documents indicate that Iran’s foreign ministry covered the event’s costs.

While Parsi acknowledges his participation, he denies collaborating with Tehran.

“My purpose was to observe how Iranian officials reason and act in real-time,” he told TV4.

The Swedish Institute of International Affairs defended Parsi, saying it has “full confidence” in his work.

“I was pleased to be invited to take part in this year’s @MunSecConf. However, my participation in this conference has been blocked by @GermanyDiplo [German Foreign Office]," Pahlavi wrote in an X post.

A German foreign ministry spokesperson offered an implicit denial that government had any role in banning Prince Pahlavi's participation. The spokesperson told Iran International that 'The Munich Security Conference decides independently on its invitations," without offering any further details.

Prince Pahlavi also wrote, “This decision was not about silencing me. This was about silencing the Iranian people. It was about silencing all those who stand for freedom, justice, and dignity. And that we will not stand for."

The conference, which is scheduled to begin later this month, has previously welcomed speakers that have criticized the Iranian government. Last year, it also banned Iranian government officials from attending.

From his X post, Pahlavi has, however, suggested the German government has been influenced by Tehran in its decision.

“So while the German government caves to the Islamic Republic, I urge the German people to stand with Iranians fighting for human rights and democracy— not only for Iranians’ sake, but for their own,” he wrote.

Pahlavi, the heir of Iran’s last monarch, has been calling on Western nations to sever links with the Islamic Republic and provide support for Iran’s protest movement.

He vowed to travel to Munich despite the exclusion, saying that Iran’s liberation “will never be determined by foreign governments.”

Germany’s Foreign Office has not publicly commented on Pahlavi’s exclusion.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed hope for a nuclear agreement with Iran, stating his willingness to engage in talks with his Iranian counterpart. He added that he did not care who initiated the contact.

Some social media users noted that while Masoud Pezeshkian may be Iran’s president, unlike Trump, he is not the country’s highest authority. They emphasized that Pezeshkian would need approval from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for all significant decisions, including matters of foreign policy.

“Trump has absolute authority in the US for everything. Does Pezeshkian also have absolute authority?” one commenter questioned, pointing out that Pezeshkian lacks the power to fulfill even smaller promises, such as removing social media platform filters.

“Hold an urgent meeting with political, economic, cultural, and diplomatic experts, go to the Leader after summarizing [the situation], and invite Trump to Iran after his approval! Trump is ready for a deal,” Amin Asgari, a political economy researcher, told Pezeshkian in an X post.

Like many others, former Deputy to President Hassan Rouhani, Hamid Aboutalebi, advocated for diplomacy over hostility in a detailed post addressed to Pezeshkian. He urged Pezeshkian to call Trump and signal Iran’s readiness for talks, citing the need to reach a preliminary agreement to “prevent further tensions, mitigate risks, and avoid the potential activation of the snapback mechanism or escalation into conflict and war.”

Economic concerns

Many Iranians expressed economic concerns in response to media reports and social media discussions on the possibility of resuming maximum pressure sanctions.

Refusal to engage in talks with Trump, they argued, could lead to severe economic consequences as evidenced by the fast response of the foreign exchange market to the announcement and the depreciation of the rial.

“Forget about [the possibility of] negotiations. What will happen is maximum pressure and a halt in Iran's oil sales. This means more wretchedness and misery for us all,” lamented one user on X.

Another anonymous reader urged comprehensive talks, writing, “Think of the lifting of sanctions instead of squandering opportunities and spouting empty slogans.” This comment, posted on the conservative Tabnak news website under the headline “Trump’s Return to Maximum Pressure against Iran: Re-Taking an Unviable Path” received 125 upvotes and only nine downvotes.

Other comments on the same article echoed similar sentiments, predicting difficult times for Iran if hostilities with the US persist. However, not everyone agreed. One reader argued, “The Revolutionary Guards must give the Americans a new lesson,” though 297 users opposed the comment, while only 36 supported it.

Opposition to talks

Radical elements opposed to negotiations with the US reiterated in their posts that no Iranian official should meet with Trump. They cited his role in the assassination of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in January 2021. “We demand retribution for General Soleimani’s killers,” one user wrote on X.

Ehsan, an ultra-hardliner social media activist with over 3,700 followers, criticized reformist media outlets for selectively highlighting Trump’s remarks. “Trump’s threats to destroy Iran, impose maximum pressure, and prevent oil sales have been ignored by reformists, who instead focus on his willingness to meet Pezeshkian,” he wrote.

Interestingly, even some hardliner outlets, including Hamshahri, ran headlines such as “Trump: I’m Ready to Talk to Pezeshkian.”

"In my humble opinion, there is no such thing as a verifiable nuclear peace agreement with the Iranian Regime, who are religious Nazis," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said on Wednesday.

"The ayatollah and his henchmen are not trustworthy on the nuclear front," the hawkish senator from South Carolina said in a post on his X account.

Earlier in the day, Trump said he "would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper."

"We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!" he said in the post on his Truth Social platform.

Graham, however, said the Islamic Republic's "ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon are crystal clear based on decades of lies and deceit. When the Iranian Regime says death to Israel and America, they mean it."

Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, but Israel has long contended Tehran wants a bomb and that its arch-enemy poses an existential threat.