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In a calculated rhetorical pivot, Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressed nuclear negotiations with the United States for the first time since direct talks resumed in Muscat—months after publicly rejecting any engagement with the country his regime’s officials and military leaders repeatedly branded as the “murderer of Qassem Soleimani.”
Speaking on April 15 to senior officials of the regime’s three branches, Khamenei sought to minimize the significance of the ongoing negotiations, telling officials: “These talks are just one of dozens of tasks for the Foreign Ministry… Don’t tie the country’s affairs to them.”
But behind this downplaying lies a stark reality: Khamenei was forced into negotiations out of fear that a potential military strike or sustained economic suffocation could ignite a nationwide uprising. This sudden shift follows intense internal and external pressure, especially under renewed threats of secondary sanctions and military escalation from the Trump administration, now in its second term.
Khamenei’s Defiant Display Masks #Iranian Regime’s Unease Amid U.S. Talkshttps://t.co/zpVuFRD4DK
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 13, 2025
What Khamenei attempts to downplay is, in fact, a dramatic reversal. The regime had long framed any contact with the U.S. as betrayal, particularly with Trump-era figures involved. But faced with international isolation and an economy in free fall, Tehran caved. Still, Khamenei’s decision is tactical: he aims to drag out the talks and run down the clock, hoping to outlast the looming UN Resolution 2231 snapback mechanism that expires in October. To shield his authority and prevent blowback from extremist factions, Khamenei resorted to his usual hedging: “We are not overly optimistic or pessimistic… though we certainly do not trust the other side.”
This balancing act is classic Khamenei—admit engagement only after it becomes unavoidable, then blame others if it fails. “Let’s not repeat the mistake we made with the JCPOA,” he warned, implying that Iran’s economic paralysis under sanctions was not his doing, but a consequence of past naiveté. He reassured his audience that “in the early stages, things have gone well,” but added, “We know the other side, and we are very distrustful of them.”
Such doublespeak reveals Khamenei’s fear—not just of military confrontation, but of the political price of appearing weak. The regime fears that any sign of further economic collapse, worsened by international isolation, could be the spark that revives the protest movements that have rocked Iran in recent years. In Persian-language social media, users have mocked the regime’s sudden shift as “capitulation in disguise.” It’s a sharp contrast to months of fiery propaganda insisting no Iranian official would ever negotiate with a Trump-appointed envoy.
#Tehran In Turmoil: Regime Officials Turn On Each Other As U.S. Talks Expose Deep Internal Crisishttps://t.co/hRZy9z2fJw
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 13, 2025
With the next round of talks scheduled to take place once again in Muscat, not Rome as previously reported, both sides are trying to control the narrative. But the regime’s propaganda machine is clearly off-balance. The very act of engaging with the so-called “Great Satan”—especially under Trump’s return—shatters years of sham-ideological posturing.
Khamenei’s awkward repositioning is not a sign of strength or diplomacy—it’s a panicked maneuver by a regime boxed in by pressure, dreading the next uprising more than any Western threat. The clerical regime no longer calls the shots—it reacts. And in doing so, it shows weakness more than strategy.