A significant internal power struggle within Iran has seen the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi consolidate power, effectively sidelining ‘pragmatist’ officials like Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. This shift has led to a maximalist and uncompromising stance from Tehran regarding negotiations and the ongoing conflict, according to a special report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and The Critical Threats Project (CTP) dated April 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
Vahidi’s ascendancy has cast a shadow over potential future US-Iran negotiations. Reports suggest Ghalibaf, who previously led Iran’s negotiating delegation, may resign due to frustration with internal divisions and disagreements over nuclear concessions. This internal dynamic has been cited as a key reason for the lack of progress in recent diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n
Indeed, US President Donald Trump canceled the planned trip of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad for talks with Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi, citing Iran’s unchanged negotiating positions and internal infighting. Araghchi, who met with Pakistani mediators, maintained that Iran would convey its positions through Pakistan, reiterating a consistent IRGC-driven line of no flexibility and maximalist demands.<\/p>\n
Regionally, tensions remain high. Likely Iranian-backed Iraqi militias conducted two fiber-optic drone attacks on Kuwaiti border posts on April 24, though no group has claimed responsibility. The US naval blockade continues to exert significant pressure on Iran’s economy, constraining its oil storage capacity and threatening to force the shutdown of oil wells. In a concerning development, an unspecified US official reported that the IRGC Navy laid additional naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, signaling an effort to assert control over the vital waterway.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Hezbollah in Lebanon has engaged in smaller-scale drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, even as a ceasefire, extended until May 17, remains in effect. Hezbollah officials have deemed the ceasefire “meaningless,” indicating a readiness to respond to Israeli operations. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also reported that the IRGC Intelligence Organization’s covert Unit 4000 oversaw a “subversive plot” by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias.<\/p>\n
The escalating economic pressure on Iran is further exacerbated by new US Treasury Department sanctions targeting a major Chinese oil customer, shipping firms, and cryptocurrency linked to Iran. With Vahidi’s hardline faction dominating decision-making, prospects for meaningful US-Iran negotiations remain low, and the risk of renewed conflict with the United States appears to be a calculated acceptance by the IRGC leadership.<\/p>\n
#IranUpdate #USIranRelations #IRGC #AhmadVahidi #MiddleEastConflict #NuclearNegotiations #NavalBlockade #Hezbollah #AxisOfResistance #Geopolitics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A significant internal power struggle within Iran has seen the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi consolidate power, effectively sidelining ‘pragmatist’ officials like Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. This shift has led to a maximalist and uncompromising stance from Tehran regarding negotiations and the ongoing conflict, according to a special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}