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Ninety-six hardline Iranian MPs have launched a public attack on any negotiation with the United States, exposing the brutal infighting now ripping the clerical regime apart as it fights for survival. In an open letter dated May 31, 2026, and published by the state newspaper Nobonyad, the lawmakers told Mojtaba Khamenei that talks with America are “not only useless but harmful.” They declared: “We have blood vengeance with America… We consider avenging the blood of Khamenei and the other martyrs of this war the duty of officials… The range of our missiles must reach the office of the killers of Khamenei!”
The signatories, including Hamid Rasaee, Ali Khezrian and Mojtaba Zolnouri, offered only conditional support to negotiators, demanding strict adherence to “the red lines set by the leadership” and warning them to remember the “bitter and instructive record of the JCPOA.” While cloaked in extravagant pledges of loyalty, the letter is a calculated attempt to undermine the very negotiations that Mojtaba Khamenei is actively backing, exposing a hardline faction willing to handcuff their new leader to block any compromise.
Censored Message and Sudden Loyalty Oaths Reveal Leadership Fragility
On June 4, 2026, state television IRIB broadcast Mojtaba Khamenei’s first major written message, read by Tehran’s acting Friday Prayer Leader Mohammad-Javad Haj-Ali-Akbari at a sharply scaled-down ceremony at Khomeini’s shrine. Yet IRIB deliberately censored the sections of Mojtaba’s letter that most directly addressed internal fighting, removing passages that would have revealed the depth of the rift to the public.
The very next day, the heads of all three branches were forced to issue fresh public declarations of loyalty on state television. The president, judiciary chief and parliament speaker each renewed “absolute obedience” to “Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.” The judiciary chief vowed to “remain on the straight path of velayat and obey the commands of His Excellency Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei with absolute submission.”
Power Dynamics in Iran and #MojtabaKhamenei’s Inner Circlehttps://t.co/eTfcnFH14Z
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 3, 2026
Why the Forced Loyalty Oaths? How Weak Is Mojtaba?
Why were the three most powerful officials compelled to repeat these ritualistic pledges so soon after Mojtaba’s own message? Why now, exactly when hardliners are openly attacking the very idea of talks? The timing suggests Mojtaba’s stance is far weaker than the regime admits. Without his father’s authority, rival factions clearly sense an opening, and the oaths look like a desperate attempt to paper over the cracks.
Hardliner MP Hamid Rasaei immediately weaponized Mojtaba’s words. At a nighttime rally in Hakimiyeh, Tehran, he attacked “liberals and Westernized officials whose calculation system has changed” and who “no longer count on God’s promises but treat Trump’s signature as guaranteed.” Rasaee thundered: “I am not afraid of war… What I fear is that some officials and elites of the Islamic Republic have changed their calculation system.”
Internet Crisis and Skyrocketing Prices Fuel the Power Struggle
The factional war is sharpened by economic collapse. While officials claim international internet has “returned to normal,” data-center connections — the backbone of e-commerce and payments — remain crippled. AsiaTek CEO Mohammad-Ali Yousefi-Zadeh told Sitna on June 6 that residential service has partially resumed but data-center links have not. Activists and business leaders warn the deeper layer is still throttled, causing lost contracts and collapsed confidence. The 50-day blackout is estimated to have cost roughly one billion dollars.
Official statistics released by the Statistical Center of Iran show catastrophic food inflation: 130 percent overall, with solid vegetable oil up 431 percent, chicken 278 percent and foreign rice between 215 and 354 percent. Road passenger fares jumped 21 percent across the board on June 6 by order of the Passenger Transport Guild. The monthly food voucher remains frozen at one million tomans per person. These daily crises turn every negotiation debate into an existential fight: hardliners see compromise as surrender; their rivals see refusal as suicide.
"The Iranian regime has fractured into a volatile domestic feud driven by two irreconcilable survival strategies: economic capitulation through secret diplomatic channels versus totalitarian wartime isolation," writes Amir Taghati. #IranWar https://t.co/UoL5hUiHKY
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 28, 2026
Scandals and Factional War Expose Regime Rot
Infighting has spilled into public scandals that further erode cohesion. On June 3, the state-aligned website Beytute exposed MP Ali Khezrian, accused of submitting a blank PhD exam paper at Allameh Tabatabai University yet still passing — while a protesting classmate was expelled. The report also highlighted the “Paydari Front’s” failure to unseat Majlis Speaker Qalibaf, another blow to hardliner power.
Even parliament is splitting over the internet crisis. MP Pordeqan revealed a minority bloc is pushing to impeach the Communications Minister, noting the same group opposes negotiations. Cleric Ghorooyan warned: “The country is in a sensitive situation… Some extremists care more about preserving their own political presence than the public interest.”
State-aligned media such as Shargh on May 31 now openly discuss “war of thugs” and “social hatred,” admitting the elder Khamenei’s death removed the “balancing weight” that once kept factions in check. Public letters, censored broadcasts, loyalty oaths and media leaks show what used to be managed behind closed doors is now in the open.
The Iranian regime is tearing itself apart because every faction believes it alone knows how to preserve the clerical dictatorship. Hardliners demand blood vengeance and missile range; revisionists whisper about sanctions relief; everyone swears absolute loyalty while sharpening knives. Mojtaba Khamenei’s censored warnings, the forced triple oath, the open letter, the economic meltdown and the scandals all point to one truth: the old system of controlled rivalry has collapsed. In its place is raw struggle for power aboard a sinking ship.