{"id":347712,"date":"2026-09-01T19:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=347712"},"modified":"2026-09-01T19:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:01:09","slug":"when-mojtaba-khameneis-word-is-no-longer-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/iranian-regime-infighting\/when-mojtaba-khameneis-word-is-no-longer-final\/","title":{"rendered":"When Mojtaba Khamenei\u2019s Word Is No Longer Final"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iranian
Iranian regime’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five-minute read<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 28, 2026, less than six months into his tenure as supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei issued what amounted to an order to stop a dangerous argument inside his own regime.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a written message<\/span> published by Tasnim<\/span><\/a>, Khamenei condemned what he called false binaries, specifically naming \u201cwar or negotiation\u201d and \u201ccompromise or warmongering\u201d. He also warned officials against publicizing even genuine weaknesses when doing so could encourage Iran\u2019s enemies. His conclusion was categorical: anything damaging social cohesion was forbidden.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The order did not settle the argument. It exposed how difficult it has become for the new supreme leader to settle one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within days, both sides were again doing precisely what Khamenei had sought to prohibit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 28<\/span>, the regime’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an interview carried by state media, rejected the contention that sanctions do not seriously damage Iran. After detailing the contraction of trade and the benefits Tehran expected from sanctions relief, <\/span>Pezeshkian ridiculed <\/span><\/a>those claiming sanctions have no effect<\/span>: \u201cReason is a good thing.\u201d He added that continued sanctions would mean continued price increases and defended negotiations as part of Iran\u2019s foreign-policy priorities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pezeshkian did not name Mojtaba Khamenei, and it would be inaccurate to claim that the remark was explicitly directed at him. But the lo<\/span>gic is difficult to contain at the level of parliamentary rivals. If, as Khamenei\u2019s hardline defenders insist, the leader\u2019s \u201cprincipled\u201d position is resistance to concessions made for sanctions relief, then Pezeshkian\u2019s argument points upward: <\/span>those refusing to adjust policy to the economic consequences of sanctions are, by\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Pezeshkian\u2019s own formulati<\/span><\/b>on, refusing reason.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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"A leader who merely ratifies is a leader who can be replaced by another ratifier. #Peace<\/a> would retire the emergency that crowned him; war keeps grinding the economy that could bury him," Farid Mahoutchi writes.https:\/\/t.co\/30kNzyCW3O<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) August 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n