{"id":337344,"date":"2025-09-22T16:23:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=337344"},"modified":"2025-09-22T16:23:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:23:44","slug":"from-cairo-deal-to-snapback-irans-power-struggle-goes-nuclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/nuclear\/from-cairo-deal-to-snapback-irans-power-struggle-goes-nuclear\/","title":{"rendered":"From Cairo Deal to Snapback: Iran\u2019s Power Struggle Goes Nuclear"},"content":{"rendered":"
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File photo: Iranian regime’s parliament (Majlis) members chanting “Death to America” on December 12, 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With the UN Security Council clearing the way for restored sanctions to take effect on September 28, 2025, Tehran\u2019s messaging has split in two. The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has moved to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is threatening a \u201clethal\u201d response to any \u201cmiscalculation,\u201d and parliamentarians are openly talking about leaving the NPT\u2014even testing a bomb. At the same time, the currency and stock market are sliding, and veteran insiders warn that keeping people \u201csatisfied\u201d is now a political imperative. The result is a tableau of a regime both combative and brittle.<\/p>\n

Only two weeks after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced in Cairo a new \u201cmodus operandi\u201d to structure cooperation (September 8, 2025), the SNSC reversed course. Following a snap meeting chaired by the regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian, the council said<\/a> on September 21 that \u201cwith the recent actions of the three European countries, cooperation with the Agency will in practice be suspended,\u201d while instructing the foreign ministry to continue consultations within the SNSC\u2019s parameters. The flip\u2014from touting a procedural pathway in Cairo to pausing it in Tehran\u2014captures the regime\u2019s internal tug-of-war as the snapback clock runs down.<\/p>\n

Parliament\u2019s Nuclear Escalation<\/h2>\n

The most dramatic escalation came from Ahmad Naderi, a member of the Majlis Presidium, who wrote on <\/a>X that \u201cthe only way to preserve Iran\u2019s territorial integrity and national security is to acquire a nuclear weapon,\u201d urging withdrawal from the NPT, adoption of opacity, and ultimately a nuclear test. National Security Committee member Behnam Saeedi argued<\/a> that with snapback moving ahead, \u201cthere is no reason to implement the IAEA understanding,\u201d adding that NPT exit is on the table. Others joined the chorus: threats to bar IAEA inspectors from bombed sites, calls to label European leaders as terrorists, and demands for \u201creciprocal measures\u201d once snapback is executed.<\/p>\n

The Khamenei-aligned press amplified the line. Kayhan, under Hossein Shariatmadari, asked on September 19:<\/a> \u201cAfter 22 years of damaging negotiations, is it not time to leave the NPT?\u201d and demanded halting all cooperation \u201cdown to basic safeguards,\u201d framing any hope in Western relief as \u201cfolly\u2014or treason.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#Iran<\/a>\u2019s Cairo Agreement Triggers Factional Warfare and Exposes Khamenei\u2019s Weakening Grip https:\/\/t.co\/E69azy8DfH<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n