Why Iran hardliners are alleging a ‘coup’ after the US agreement
Hardline factions in Iran are accusing government officials of staging a 'soft coup' by signing a ceasefire agreement with the United States. The backlash reflects deep internal divisions regarding the country's revolutionary ideals and the leadership of the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
Why it matters
Internal political instability in Iran could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire and lead to further regional volatility in the Middle East.
As Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian walked alongside the coffin of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran last week, some of the black-clad mourners surrounding him chanted not in tribute to the late leader, but directly at him — "death to the compromiser", CNN reported. Not far from the funeral site, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's top diplomat who negotiated a ceasefire with the Trump administration and helped secure limited sanctions relief for the Islamic Republic, was forced to flee after a mob pelted him with rocks while chanting that he was a "traitorous sellout."
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