From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Report: Iran hardliners clash publicly as split over US policy widens
Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel
A deepening rift within Iran’s hardline leadership over how to handle the United States has spilled into public view, with rival factions clashing in both parliament and state-linked media, the Iranian opposition outlet Iran International reports.
According to the report, divisions surfaced this week when 27 ultraconservative Iranian lawmakers refused to sign a letter backing Tehran’s negotiating team, exposing a rare break in what is typically a publicly unified front.
The alleged dispute has pitted allies of former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili against supporters of parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who recently led the Iranian delegation in talks with the US in Islamabad.
The tensions escalated into a public feud between state-linked media outlets, including Raja News and the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, with both sides trading accusations of undermining national unity.
Several lawmakers have criticized the negotiating team, claiming that negotiators had crossed “red lines” set by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei by engaging with Washington on nuclear issues, while Jalili himself called for a formal clarification from Khamenei on whether such moves had his backing.
State-linked commentary has also reflected the divide, with a Tasnim editorial dismissing Iran’s maximalist demands in talks with the US as unrealistic, before being taken down amid backlash from Raja News.
The Times of Israel Community.