Iran International
The first thing Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi probably noticed upon returning to Tehran from Oman—where he met with US Special Envoy Steve Wikoff—was the appearance of his own oversized images on billboards across the capital’s expressways.
Hardliners in Tehran have been working to frame the opaque, closed-door meeting—described as positive by both sides—as a political win for the Islamic Republic. Some have even gone so far as to label it a victory.
The following day, Javan, the IRGC-affiliated daily, declared: "Iran is the winner of the negotiations, with or without an agreement." The paper described the meeting as "a show of Iran's power against the United States' helplessness."
Javan highlighted the breaking of the deadlock and the promise of further negotiations as signs the process would ultimately benefit Iran. It claimed Iran had dictated "all of its preconditions, including the venue, timing, and agenda" to the United States.
This triumphant narrative, however, stood in contrast to Araghchi’s own statement that the talks focused solely on nuclear issues. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the negotiations aimed to "de-escalate regional tensions, facilitate prisoner exchanges, and reach limited agreements to ease sanctions in exchange for controlling Iran's nuclear program."
At the same time, some hardliners sought to emphasize Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s authority by noting that he had personally authorized the meeting.
However some opposition to negotiations was evident among ultra-hardliners. They appeared to highlight Khamenei's role with the possible intent of assigning blame to him should the renewed diplomatic engagement fail.
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the Khamenei-linked Kayhan newspaper, wrote: "The indirect talks with the United States could not have taken place without Khamenei's permission. If he had not approved them, he would certainly have blocked the meeting."
Shariatmadari added: "The horizon is not clear, and Iran must think of a Plan B." He dismissed US threats of military action as "a bluff," and claimed that "the draft Witkoff handed to Araghchi included no such thing as dismantling Iran's nuclear establishments or the possibility of a military attack."
Outspoken ultra-hardliner lawmaker Hamid Rasaei said in parliament on Sunday morning: "We all know that the Supreme Leader believes that the United States is not trustworthy and that negotiations with Washington are useless." He added, however, that "The Leader has authorized the talks to prove to some Iranian officials that the US breaks its promises and will put forward illogical demands."
Meanwhile, another ultraconservative MP, Mahmood Nabavian, vice-chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, claimed that Trump initially wanted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to participate in the talks with Araghchi. "But we insisted that Witkoff should go to Oman instead," he said, adding: "Trump accepted all of Iran's conditions regarding the format of the talks."
Saeed Haddadian, a political aide to parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also warned against excessive optimism about the negotiations with Washington. He suggested that Trump might not even support the approach taken by his own special envoy.
"If you show weakness in front of a thug such as Trump," Haddadian said, "you are likely to end up like Ukrainian President Zelensky. You will be humiliated, and you will not get any results."
In a separate development, Mehdi Fazaeli, a member of the Supreme Leader's office staff, denied claims that senior Iranian officials had pressured Khamenei to shift his position in response to Trump’s letter or to adjust his overall approach to the talks.
Early on Sunday, dissident lawyer and civil activist Hassan Younesi posted on X that he had heard “some groups and organizations stationed at the embassy building … have been ordered to evacuate it.” The post quickly drew attention, partly because Younesi’s father, Ali Younesi, served as intelligence minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Hours later, however, Younesi deleted the post and published a follow-up, saying he had been contacted by what he called “responsible authorities” who denied the reports and said his post had created the mistaken impression that preliminary steps were being taken to prepare the embassy for a handover.
Such deletions by political activists and media figures—often under pressure from security agencies—are not uncommon in Iran.
Some users suggested that a potential handover could pave the way for American investments in Iran, especially after President Masoud Pezeshkian commented recently that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had “no objection” to American investors entering the Iranian market.
“Why would Trump push for direct talks unless it’s about reopening the embassy?” one user posted. “How else can US companies invest here?”
Former Israeli official and spokesperson Ben Sabeti also weighed in on X: “Iran makes cheap gestures toward @POTUS for the success of negotiations? There are reports about the US Embassy in Tehran being vacated for the first time since 1979. Is the regime also ready to make nuclear concessions?”
Meanwhile, Iranian media—highly constrained by censorship—picked up Younesi’s now-deleted post, but offered minimal commentary. “If true, this is a very meaningful step,” read a brief article titled What’s the story of the evacuation of the US Embassy building? published by Rouydad24 on Sunday. Fararu, another popular online outlet, published a gallery of recent photos showing foreign tourists visiting the former embassy, under the headline US Embassy in Tehran Draws Attention Again on Day of Talks—without offering any further remarks.
The US embassy takeover forty-six years ago
Islamist students occupied the embassy in November 1979. The students held tens of American diplomats and other staff hostage for 444 days. The embassy compound, which the students called “Den of Spies”, however, has been used as a base by IRGC-affiliated groups, including the Basij militia and its affiliated Daneshjoo (Student) News Agency.
Other parts of the building were converted into a museum and opened to the public in recent years. The Swiss embassy has represented US interests in Iran in the past forty-six years.
Calls for normalization of relations and re-opening of the embassy
In recent years, various Iranian political and media figures have supported the idea of restoring diplomatic ties with the United States and returning the embassy building after decades of occupation.
Most recently, reformist politician and cleric Mohsen Rohami suggested in an interview published by Khabar Online that Iran and the United States could re-open their embassies and that higher officials than foreign ministers could sit at the negotiation table.
“This will have a positive psychological impact, besides its practical outcome, on our society and neighbors,” Khabar Online on Sunday quoted Rohami, who served as the legal deputy of Pezeshkian’s campaign last year, as saying.
Back in August 2024, Mehdi Ghazanfari, head of the National Development Fund, called for the reestablishment of consular relations with the United States. He controversially blamed the Communist Tudeh Party for provoking the 1979 embassy seizure and urged the Pezeshkian administration to act fast before what he called his political rivals' honeymoon with him ended.
His suggestion was echoed by some other politicians and public figures including Mohammad-Hossein Khoshvaght, a former official of the Islamic Guidance Ministry and managing director of Fararu. Khoshvaght has close ties to Khamenei’s household through the marriage of his sister to Khamenei’s eldest son, Mostafa.
Khoshvaght contended that normalization of relations could benefit both countries. "An Iran that has normal relations with the United States is a nightmare for Russia and Israel; for Putin, an Iran with nuclear weapons is less dangerous than an Iran that has normal relations with the United States!" he wrote on X.
In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said reopening the embassy was “not impossible” if both sides changed their behavior. Similarly, in a 2014 interview with Swiss TV during the Davos Forum, President Hassan Rouhani said animosity with the United States could eventually turn into friendship.
The talks should be treated as a national decision rather than a partisan initiative, said the former Deputy Speaker of Iran’s Parliament Ali Motahari.
“These talks are a decision by the entire system and must not be portrayed as imposed by one faction,” said Motahari, a conservative politician known for outspoken views, in an interview with Rouydad24 on Saturday.
Motahari pointed to the 2015 nuclear agreement as an example of what could be achieved through engagement but also how easily it could unravel.
“In the two years the JCPOA was implemented, we saw single-digit inflation and higher economic growth,” he said. “Let’s not allow partisan competition sabotage this round.”
The outcome of this round would signal whether “the negotiations are on a constructive track and whether the other side seeks a fair resolution or talks from a position of dominance,” he said.
From the Reformist camp, a former official also called for sidelining powerful domestic actors who benefit from Iran’s continued isolation.
“To advance negotiations and end sanctions, the government must disarm the so-called sanctions profiteers,” said Mohammad Hashemi, the brother of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, in an interview with Khabar Online website.
Hashemi warned that these groups, though few in number, wield significant influence and have actively worked to destabilize the new government.
“Their power lies in chaos. Without confronting them, real progress is impossible,” he added.
He also offered a cautious assessment of US President Donald Trump.
“Trump has no credible track record. He tore up the nuclear deal and ordered the killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani,” Hashemi said.
“But he’s also a businessman, not a warmonger. He prefers deals over war.”
