Iranian leadership divided as hard-liners sabotage negotiations

When Iranian forces fired on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz in July, they did so without advance knowledge or authorization of the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, or Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing five Iranian officials and two IRGC members. The incident was one of the most striking examples of how Iran's hard-line faction sabotaged negotiations between Iran and the US, a phenomenon made possible by the apparent absence of the only figure with authority to solve the conflict, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to the report. Khamenei has not been seen since his appointment in March, after the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and while written statements and messages have been issued in his name, many have doubted their veracity, including Pezeshkian, three Iranian officials told the NYT.