Iran's Chief Justice, a theocratic stalwart, rebrands in an uncertain age

Khamenei has largely silenced Tehran's hardliners ahead of the third round of talks with Washington but some opposition persists within his own office.

Two newspapers funded and maintained by Khamenei’s office —Kayhan and Ettela'at —have been presenting starkly different perspectives on the talks over the past week. Both are among Iran’s oldest newspapers, and their top management is personally appointed by the Supreme Leader.

Kayhan, known for its consistently anti-US stance, has maintained a hardline, pessimistic view on the negotiations, even after Khamenei’s rhetoric softened in his recent speeches.

The newspaper insists that "the talks will lead to nowhere." Previously, the daily had writted "negotiating with the United States would be foolish." In a controversial satirical commentary, Kayhan even called for the assassination of President Donald Trump.

The newspaper’s editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, wrote on April 18 that "Iran is engaged in a hybrid war with the United States, and the Iranian government should adopt a combat posture against Washington."

Later, on April 22, the daily quoted IRGC-linked Defa Press website as saying, "Iran is sufficiently armed with top-secret weapons to attack Diego Garcia and confront US and British forces there. Iran’s Shahed-136 drones can reach Diego Garcia, located approximately 4,000 kilometers from its borders."

The report added, "Iran can set fire to Diego Garcia with its improved Khorramshahr ballistic missiles, while its cruise missiles can target massive U.S. vessels in the Indian Ocean."

Although the articles may be a mix of falsehoods, disinformation and wishful thinking, they appear to reflect abiding suspicions of the diplomatic outreach among hardliners.

'Embarrassing themselves'

Earlier, Ettela'at had welcomed the negotiations. In an analysis published on April 22, the newspaper sought to expose "those who are undermining the talks."

"Three groups in Iran are attempting to obstruct the negotiations. Although they are too weak to derail the process entirely, they might succeed in discouraging some people and embarrassing themselves."

In an apparent reference to previous Iranian governments and their leaders, Ettela'at identified the first group as "those who question why negotiations were not allowed when they were in power and could have claimed them as their own achievement."

The second group, according to the newspaper, consists of "those who equate negotiations and compromise with treason. They chant radical slogans, create tensions, and sometimes their rhetoric proves costly for the government. On occasion, they even incite small protests in the streets." T

This appeared to be a clear reference to ultraconservatives, such as members of the ultra-conservative Paydari Party and the editors of Kayhan.

The third group attempting to obstruct the negotiations, Ettela'at wrote, is "the foreign-based Iranian opposition," which the newspaper characterized as "bankrupt opportunists."

"Let us support détente and the ongoing negotiations," the daily insisted.

This development could be seen as an extension of Khamenei's "good cop-bad cop" strategy. However, the timing –just as negotiations continue—and the stark contrast between the two perspectives strongly suggest a deeper divide within Khamenei's office.

While pockets of resistance against a potential deal with Washington persist, some Iranians—such as sociologist Ebrahim Fayyaz—are already considering the aftermath of an agreement.

Characterizing the negotiations as inevitable, Fayyaz said in an interview with Khabar Online, "This is the first time Iranians are engaging in negotiations with a world power on equal footing."

At the same time, he warned that radical rhetoric from hardliners, particularly those affiliated with Iran’s state television, could point to serious internal instability.

“The recent assault took place in a location with a history of similar crimes,” said Hamed Ali Sadeghi, Khajeh Nasir University’s deputy for student and cultural affairs. “These two were targeted by a specific gang,” he added.

Just days earlier, a female student from Shahid Beheshti University was attacked 50 meters from her dormitory in the capital’s northern Velenjak neighborhood. The robbers broke her teeth and stole her phone.

In February, 19-year-old Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, a business student at the University of Tehran, was stabbed to death by robbers near his dormitory.

Student associations warned afterward that the threat extended to dormitories across the country and criticized authorities for ignoring repeated calls to secure the surroundings of student housing.

Protests erupted following Khaleghi’s death, but attacks have continued. About a month later, two students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences were robbed at knifepoint.

According to the student council, the victims sought help from campus security after being threatened with cold weapons.

The pattern is not limited to student areas. On April 20, video circulated of a motorcyclist snatching a necklace from a woman carrying a child in southern Tehran, knocking both to the ground.

Last week, a surveillance camera recorded a thief tearing off a man’s gold chain as he sat at a café in Saadatabad, northern Tehran.

In Meybod, Yazd province, other footage showed a phone being violently stolen from a 16-year-old girl in broad daylight.

Iranian authorities have announced arrests in a few high-profile cases but have yet to introduce broad preventive measures.

Instead, universities have advised students to use better-lit, alternative routes — guidance viewed by many as an admission of official inaction.

The uptick in street crime comes as Iran’s economy remains in crisis. Inflation is estimated to have reached nearly 50 percent, while the rial has suffered a steep depreciation.

The exchange rate briefly hit 1,060,000 rials to the US dollar during recent weeks before temporarily falling to 800,000 following the resumption of indirect talks with the United States.

Over one third of Iranians now live below the poverty line and unemployment sits at around 20% for the country's young population and 7-8% overall, according to official data, although actual numbers are believed to be far higher.

Earlier this month, Ham-Mihan daily reported that food theft from stores in Iran has increased, with rising prices and growing hunger among the population cited as major reasons.

In September, Ali Valipour Goudarzi, head of Tehran’s Criminal Investigation Police, said that some thieves resort to theft solely due to economic conditions, and that if the situation improves, their numbers will decrease.

“They have taken many job opportunities,” Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said during a meeting of provincial governors on Monday, addressing public concerns that foreign nationals were crowding Iranians out of the job market.

Momeni added that more than 1.2 million undocumented immigrants were repatriated in the past Iranian calendar year ending on March 20.

At the same meeting, the head of the Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs Center at the ministry Nader Yarahmadi said 6.1 million Afghans currently reside in Iran. The actual number may be far higher, or up to 15 million, according to unofficial tallies by Iranian lawmakers and media outlets.

Iranian officials and media outlets frequently use the term foreign nationals as a euphemism specifically referring to Afghan citizens.

Afghans began arriving in Iran as refugees in the early 1980s, later joined by economic migrants. Until the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, their numbers rarely exceeded two million.

Around 780,000 Afghans hold official refugee status and are not considered undocumented. A small minority of non-refugees are wealthier Afghans who fled after the Taliban’s takeover, while the majority are undocumented economic migrants who provide low-cost labor in sectors such as agriculture and construction and live with or without their families.

Anti-Afghan sentiment has grown significantly in recent years, especially on Persian-language social media, where hashtags such as “Expulsion of Afghans is a national demand” frequently trend.

Advocates for the expulsion of Afghan nationals accuse the government of allowing them to benefit from billions of dollars in subsidies for food, fuel, and other essential services, including healthcare and education.

In addition to monthly cash payments to nearly 90 million Iranians, the government heavily subsidizes basic goods such as bread and fuel. The current fiscal year’s budget allocates 2,500 trillion rials out of 64,000 trillion rials to bread subsidies alone.

No official data quantifying the subsidies specifically received by Afghan immigrants exists.

However, Hamidreza Azizi, a lawmaker representing Eghlid in southwestern Fars Province, said in a recent parliamentary speech that the government spends approximately 7,000 trillion rials on subsidies for energy, food, medicine, and education for Afghan children. “In my constituency, Afghan nationals have taken over the entire job market from Iranians,” Azizi told Parliament.

Iran’s official unemployment rate stands at 7.6 percent, but many believe the real figure is significantly higher, as the government considers anyone working at least one hour per week as employed.

Meanwhile, at least one-third of Iranians live below the poverty line, and workers’ strikes over unpaid wages continue in various sectors.

During his campaign, President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged to tighten border controls, register undocumented immigrants and seek support from European countries—either by encouraging them to accept some refugees or to provide financial assistance.

The relatively moderate President argued that Western policies in Afghanistan have driven millions of Afghans to Iran and that those responsible should share the burden.

“There is no reason the Iranian people should bear the costs of others’ failed policies,” Pezeshkian wrote in a series of tweets prior to the election.

The appointments were made to the board of the "Foundation for the Preservation and Publication of Sacred Defense Values," which oversees efforts to commemorate Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.

In a separate decision, the foundation’s name has officially been changed to include the term “Resistance.”

The change was proposed by the board and approved by Ali Khamenei, reflecting Iran’s broader framing of its support for regional armed groups known as Iran's 'axis of resistance'.

The Quds Force is responsible for the IRGC’s overseas operations, and its inclusion alongside the foreign ministry signals a deeper institutional integration of Iran’s foreign policy and regional military strategy with the country’s war-time legacy narrative.

The foundation plays a prominent role in shaping public opinion and political discourse around what Iran refers to as the "Sacred Defense," a term used to describe the Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988).

Its activities often glorify martyrdom and stress the importance of ideological continuity, a concept which has been greatly challenged since the 2022 uprising when the Iranian government has faced its lowest levels of support since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

“A group of devout citizens has a rightful demand, and that is the enforcement of the hijab law — a demand that holds value for the Islamic system,” said spokesman Ahmad Rastineh on Thursday.

The law was passed by parliament in September 2023 but is yet to be fully enforced as the government tries to avoid mass backlash. It mandates harsh penalties for women and girls who defy compulsory veiling and has been branded by the UN as amounting to gender apartheid.

Punishments under the strict new law include travel bans, social media restrictions, prison sentences, lashes, and fines. It also criminalizes promoting hijab resistance.

The legislation was introduced following mass protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022 which led to nationwide hijab rebellion and a loss of control by authorities.

Although the law’s enforcement was postponed in December following public outcry and international pressure, calls for its immediate implementation have intensified.

Last month, a group of pro-hijab activists staged a sit-in outside parliament, demanding the law be enacted. The protest, which coincided with Quds Day, was dispersed by police on the grounds that it lacked official authorization.

As measures to enforce hijab continue, a recent cooperation agreement was signed between Iran’s police and the education ministry which has sparked outrage from teachers’ unions.

Critics say the deal, which allows police input on school policies, could militarize schools and enforce hijab compliance among students.

“Teachers across the country will not allow schools to be turned into military barracks,” said the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association.

“This is a degrading and alarming stance,” added Mohammad Habibi, the group’s spokesman, accusing the education minister of surrendering the civilian space of education to security forces.

Many women around the country now openly reject the compulsory headscarf, long tunics, and trousers mandated by Iran’s Shariah law. Acts of defiance have become increasingly visible, with women frequently seen unveiled, singing, and dancing in public as a challenge to the religious establishment.