Iranian newspapers diverge over war rhetoric, diplomacy with US
Contributor
The volume of coverage in Iranian newspapers about potential talks with the United States highlights the significance of the issue for both the public and the government.
Following a flurry of reports on Monday, news broke late in the evening Tehran time that Iran and the US will hold official talks on Saturday—the first since 2022.
Earlier in the day, the reformist and pro-Pezeshkian daily Etemad featured two front-page articles on Iran-US relations. In a report headlined "Tension Before Agreement," columnist Mehdi Beigoghlou reviewed calls for indirect negotiations and quoted prominent reformist figure Ali Shakouri-Rad, who said, "The fact that the top leaders of both countries—Donald Trump and Ali Khamenei—ultimately decide on the negotiations increases the chances of a lasting agreement."
Shakouri-Rad, sounding perhaps overly optimistic, also suggested that direct involvement by the two countries’ top leaders reduces the likelihood of military conflict in the region. “A meeting between Trump and Khamenei in Tehran is more probable than a regional war,” he said.
The article also noted that while some hardliners—including the editor of the Kayhan daily, which is funded by the Supreme Leader’s office—have called for Trump’s assassination, many conservative figures in Iran have distanced themselves from Kayhan’s provocative rhetoric and rejected the suggestion outright.
Meanwhile, in another article in Etemad, prominent commentator Abbas Abdi emphasized that hardliner calls for Iran to pursue nuclear weapons are ultimately futile, as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s decree banning the development of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction remains in effect. He noted that the ruling reflects a principled stance rooted in Islamic values.
Writing in the reformist daily Shargh, columnist Ardavan Amiraslani argued that "the start of negotiations between Iran and the United States is inevitable." He added that "Donald Trump is committed to a policy of non-intervention and has no interest in launching a new war in the Middle East."
However, Amiraslani acknowledged that Iran’s position on negotiations with the United States remains ambiguous. He pointed to the gap between Tehran’s official stance in favor of indirect talks and President Trump’s recent comment suggesting he sensed Iran was beginning to lean toward direct negotiations. Amiraslani also noted internal divisions among Iranian officials—some continuing to back hardline positions, while others recognize the urgent need for an agreement with the United States to address the economic crisis before it poses a serious threat to the system’s stability.
The centrist daily Ham Mihan, in its Monday editorial, sharply criticized the Supreme National Security Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant authorities for their silence over the hardline newspaper Kayhan's call for the assassination of former US President Donald Trump. The editorial argued that Kayhan’s article played directly into the hands of conservative US media, particularly Fox News, and appeared intended to provoke Trump. Ham Mihan also condemned the Culture Ministry’s mild response to the article, saying the warning issued was disproportionate to the severity of the provocation. It added that had any other media outlet published similar content, it would have faced far more serious consequences.
Another centrist daily, Sazandegi, featured an unusually large photo of Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari alongside former US Vice President Mike Pence under the headline "Defenders of War," writing that "warmongers and radicals in both Iran and the United States are escalating tensions and undermining diplomacy." It is not clear why the paper featured Pence’s photo as a warmonger, except perhaps to emphasize his differences with Trump.
The conservative daily Farhikhtegan quoted Amir Ali Abolfath, a US politics analyst, as saying that "the United States is likely to favor a political approach over a military one in dealing with Iran." He added, "Trump wants peace with Iran, but the kind of peace he envisions is certainly different from what Iran has in mind."