Khamenei should opt for moderation in US talks, commentators gently urge

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei should cleave toward a moderate approach toward the United States in ongoing talks, several prominent Iranian political commentators have suggested.

Instead of directly naming Khamenei, the commentaries were careful to use terms such as "leadership," "governance" and "decision-makers," as directly exhorting Iran's theocrat is mostly off-limits in public discourse.

Iranian nuclear scientist and former diplomat Ali Khorram, who served as Iran's ambassador to the UN headquarters in Geneva in the 80s, said in an interview with the pro-reform Arman Melli newspaper that Iran's leadership should take rational decisions which take into account future threats.

Khorram, who studied nuclear physics and international law in the United States, expressed optimism that US President Donald Trump could preside over a genuinely improved relationship

"Trump genuinely wants to improve relations between Tehran and Washington and elevate them to the level of friendship."

Reformist political commentator Abbas Abdi in an interview with pro-government reformist daily Etemad, said authorities should forge an agreement not just with the United States but with its own people.

"The people in Iran are no less important than an agreement with America" for the survival of the political establishment, he said.

Abdi highlighted the divide between the government and the nation, exacerbated by waves of protests since 2017 and the violent suppression of the demonstrators by security forces, and called for pluralism and improved governance.

"Almost certainly, the Iranian side has made a decision at the top level of the government to reach an agreement" with the United States, Abdi said, adding that the rapid progress in talks suggested that some essential agreements were already in place before the two sides met.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the former chief of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the pro-reform website Fararu that Tehran must abandon certain taboos if it seeks genuine progress.

"If Iran does not break those taboos, any achievement in the negotiations will not last long," he said.

The politician has previously spoken extensively about the need to move beyond Tehran's anti-Americanism, its reliance on China and Russia and its acknowledgment of past mistakes in its relationship with the Iranian people.

Iran's primary challenge, Falahatpisheh added, is on the home front, warning that persistent tensions could become increasingly costly.