Increasingly clear signs of internal tensions are surfacing in Iran’s negotiation team with the United States, with an ultraconservative politician set to take on a key role in the nuclear dossier negotiations, reports Fox News.
According to information revealed by Iran International on April 24, 60-year-old Saeed Jalili is expected to replace the President of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a hard-line politician, following the latter’s abrupt withdrawal from discussions with the USA due to internal disputes.
Jalili, a veteran conservative known for his opposition to concessions in the nuclear dossier, is considered the leader of a so-called “shadow government”. He leads the ultraconservative faction Stability Front (Paydari), described as a “bastion of ultraconservatism in Iran”.
Ali Safavi, a representative of the National Council of Iranian Resistance (NCRI), told Fox News Digital that Jalili “has transitioned from a role of negotiator in the nuclear field to an influential actor within the regime”.
Ghalibaf would have been forced to resign after he tried to include the nuclear issue in the discussions with Washington, an action that sparked negative reactions within the Iranian political establishment.
In this tense context, the American president Donald Trump has cancelled the planned trip of the US envoys to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran, scheduled for April 25.