Iran hardliners push back on FATF accession citing sanctions risk

During a meeting with a group of senior officials, Ali Khamenei emphasized the need to avoid tying the country's issues to the outcome of these negotiations.

"We are neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic about these talks," he said, adding however that “we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities."

Khamenei added, "Ultimately, it is a task and a move that has been decided upon, and the initial steps have been implemented well.”

"We must avoid linking the country's issues to these discussions, repeating the mistake of the JCPOA where national progress was made dependent on the negotiation's advancement. Such an approach creates a conditional environment, stalling everything until the talks' results are known," the Supreme Leader said in a reference to the 2015 agreement.

Khamenei's carefully balanced comments suggest a pragmatic approach to the dialogue, acknowledging the necessity of exploring diplomatic avenues while maintaining deep reservations about the intentions of the American side.

As Tehran and Washington gear up for the next nuclear talks on April 19, a sense of cautious optimism appears to be growing among Iranian officials and many public figures,apparently stemming from a perceived shift in Khamenei’s stance, evidenced by his greenlight of Muscat negotiations.

The influence of ultra-hardline opponents of US engagement, such as former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the Steadfastness Front (Paydari Party), appears to be diminishing amid internal divisions.

Resistance to negotiations among hardliners has softened because outright opposition risks being seen as defiance of Khamenei’s authority.

The hacker group, named ShadowBits, also said to have obtained information about the employees of the MCI.

Digiato, a website active in Iran’s tech news industry, initially reported the breach but later removed the article.

ShadowBits shared an image of the Digiato article in a Telegram post and said that “pressure from intelligence agencies” led to its removal.

The group added that the data includes personal information such as names, surnames, date and place of birth, national ID numbers, birth certificate numbers, and full postal addresses.

London-based security expert Nariman Gharib confirmed the breach through his research, adding that telecom companies like MCI have close ties to the country’s intelligence and security agencies, and that telecom data is often used for surveillance of citizens.

Kayhan’s editorial, responding to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by John Kerry and Thomas Kaplan that suggested President Donald Trump now has an opportunity for a broader nuclear deal with Iran due to Tehran’s weakened regional position, dismissed the analysis as based on false premises and a fundamental misunderstanding of Iran’s strengths.

Tehran has seen its regional influence weakened, with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis under increasing pressure, and Bashar al-Assad no longer in power in Syria.

"Mr. Kerry, although you still seem to dream of leading the world, there is ample and undeniable evidence that today’s America is no longer the powerful nation it once was," Kayhan wrote. "How can a country whose president speaks of hardship, whose senators describe this as the worst period in its history, and whose people stand in line for food and shelter, expect to pressure others?"

In contrast to Kerry's portrayal of Iran's weakened hand, Kayhan argued that the Islamic Republic is in the center of regional and global developments and continues its path with "authority and dignity."

Kerry's original article had argued that "Ten years after the last nuclear agreement with Iran, the balance of forces has changed dramatically... Iran, often a master of miscalculation and geopolitical malpractice, has backed itself into a corner, and that paradoxically boosts the odds for a peace initiative." He also called on President Trump to seek a deal that "prevents Iran from ever possessing a potentially lethal nuclear program."

"So Mr. Kerry! Accept the reality: It is not Iran that is in the corner of the ring; it is America that is counting down," Kayhan editorial read.

Also on Tuesday, Tasnim News Agency, a media outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, analyzed the reasons behind Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's approval of indirect negotiations with the United States.

The author, Mehdi Khodaei, refuted three common interpretations for this decision: that it was due to Trump's threats, that Iran had no other choice, or that it was imposed upon Khamenei by the government or other high-ranking officials.

It argued that Iran's willingness to engage in indirect talks is not out of fear or frustration, as Iran possesses the capability to respond and doubts the US would initiate a conflict.

A Revolutionary Court in Mashhad handed down the verdicts on charges of propaganda against the establishment and propaganda in favor of Israel according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Speaking to Iran International, defense attorney Mohammad Olyaifard said the lawyers were punished for doing their jobs.

“These verdicts are part of the ongoing crackdown on civil institutions,” Olyaifard said.

Initially charged in 2022, the lawyers were briefly included under a general amnesty directive but in January 2025 Iranian authorities reopened the case and launched a new round of investigations.

The Islamic Republic has long targeted independent lawyers and civil society advocates. After the nationwide protests beginning in September 2022 were quashed with deadly force, the state has kept a tight lid on civil and political activism with arrests and executions of demonstrators.

Armed assailants stormed an auto repair shop in Mehrestan County in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province on Friday and killed the workers at close range.

"Pakistan strongly condemned the inhumane and cowardly killing of its nationals in Iran," Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement on Monday.

"The leadership and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened and disturbed by this tragic incident. The Prime Minister has expressed heartfelt condolences for the bereaved families."

"We hope for Iranian side's full cooperation in investigating the matter and in timely repatriation of victims' remains," the statement added.

According to Halvash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people, the incident took place early Friday in the village of Hizabad-e Paein.

The victims—car mechanics and bodywork specialists from Pakistan’s Punjab province—were living and working at the repair shop when gunmen entered the premises, tied their hands and feet, and shot them.

Iranian security forces were deployed to the site following the killings, and the area was placed under heightened surveillance, according to Halvash.

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Iran has officially denounced the killings as an "act of terrorism." In a statement on Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said that the country’s security and judicial authorities are determined to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Asr-e Iran website reported that a group calling itself the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

The armed group operates on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border and has been involved in previous attacks on state and civilian targets.

The Iranian embassy in Islamabad also issued a statement condemning the act as “inhumane and cowardly.”

In January 2024, Iran and Pakistan exchanged rare cross-border strikes targeting militant groups. Iran launched missiles at what it said were Jaish al-Adl positions inside Pakistan, prompting a retaliatory Pakistani strike on Baloch separatist camps in Iranian territory.

Jaish al-Adl is an armed opposition groups to the Islamic republic.

The strikes marked the most serious escalation in years along the shared frontier.

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