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As international sanctions under the UN “snapback” mechanism return, Tehran’s leaders are relying on bold rhetoric rather than credible strategy. Officials from parliament, the Supreme National Security Council, and state-controlled media have issued a cascade of threats — from labeling European leaders “terrorists” to urging nuclear bomb tests — in what amounts to propaganda for a shaken support base rather than genuine policy.
Parliamentarians talk of “terrorist” Europe and the bomb
Hosseinali Haji Deligani, a member of the regime’s parliament (Majlis), insisted on September 20, 2025, that “it is necessary for parliament to pass a resolution to designate European leaders as ‘terrorists.’” He dismissed the sanctions as “merely a psychological operation whose goal is to affect the country’s economy,” and warned that “one of parliament’s options can be discussion of withdrawal from the NPT.”
Ahmad Naderi, a presidium member of parliament, went further on X, writing: “Only way to preserve Iran’s territorial integrity and national security is to obtain nuclear weapons. Exiting the NPT, adopting ambiguity, and ultimately testing a nuclear bomb is the only option… Time has come to make tough but necessary decisions.”
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, called the return of UN sanctions “illegal and unlawful” and declared that the Cairo accord with the IAEA “has been destroyed.” He added: “There is no longer any reason for continued cooperation with the agency or to remain in the NPT… Iran must redesign the 40-megawatt Arak reactor and build new-generation centrifuges.”
Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy foreign minister, dismissed the UN Security Council’s snapback decision as meaningless, insisting that “in practice, at present we have no enrichment activities.” He also warned that while reinstated sanctions would take “seven to eight days” to come into effect, “their psychological impact must be considered and managed immediately by the relevant institutions”
#Iran’s Cairo Agreement Triggers Factional Warfare and Exposes Khamenei’s Weakening Grip https://t.co/E69azy8DfH
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 17, 2025
SNSC contradiction: suspending inspectors, claiming peace
The Supreme National Security Council, after a meeting chaired by the regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian, declared that “with the activation of the snapback mechanism, cooperation with the IAEA will be suspended.” The statement described the European decision as “reckless” but simultaneously insisted that the “Islamic Republic’s policy was greater cooperation for creating peace and stability in the region.”
The juxtaposition — cutting off inspectors while proclaiming peace — underlined the contradictions of a regime that must reassure its own ranks even as it retreats into isolation.
Kayhan, whose editorial guidelines are directed from Ali Khamenei’s office, argued that the snapback “changes nothing”: “The enemy’s magazine has already been emptied; US sanctions are much harsher than UN resolutions.” But Kayhan also called for a decisive break: “After 22 years of trial and error, the time has come for Iran to take a strategic decision” — a thinly veiled call to quit the NPT.
#Tehran’s Nuclear Standoff Deepens as Regime Faces International Rejection and Domestic Discordhttps://t.co/gbCnug4tZe
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 11, 2025
Denials of economic impact collapse in real time
Mohammadreza Pour-Ebrahimi, head of the economic commission at the Expediency Council, claimed sanctions “only relate to nuclear and missile activity” and have “no connection to trade, oil sales, or basic goods.” He urged the public to “see for themselves with a simple search” that the impact would be limited.
Haji Deligani likewise promised that “the people of Iran can be assured that the normal conditions of the country will be preserved.”
Yet on September 20, the rial collapsed in Tehran’s open market. The dollar jumped from around 101,300 tomans in the morning to above 103,500 by midday. Currency sites linked the spike directly to “the increased likelihood of snapback activation.”
#Iran’s Power Structure Buckles Under Political, Economic, and Nuclear Pressurehttps://t.co/abvkCn5vAj
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 9, 2025
A fractured message
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry struck a different note for external audiences. MFA aid Saeed Khatibzadeh told Al-Mayadeen that “the European troika is looking for a pretext to escalate tensions,” before adding that “diplomacy is always a better option than raising the level of tensions.” The contrast exposed how the regime speaks in two languages at once — projecting bellicose defiance to rally its demoralized base at home, while dangling softer rhetoric abroad to lure the West into avoiding a firm policy against Tehran.
The regime’s defiance — talk of nuclear bombs, branding Europe as terrorists, promises that nothing will change — is aimed less at the world than at its own supporters. The rial’s fall, the contradictions between threatening inspectors and claiming peace, and the simultaneous calls for escalation and diplomacy all point to a system rattled by sanctions and fearful of its eroding base.
By presenting bluster as strategy, Tehran seeks to mask weakness with bravado. The more it insists that sanctions are irrelevant, the clearer it becomes that the regime is struggling to convince even its own followers that it can endure the pressure.