President Masoud Pezeshkian's offer not to attack neighbouring countries unless they allow their airspace or US bases to be used against Iran has provoked a storm inside the country, with the military appearing to contradict him and hardliners calling for a new supreme leader to be installed rapidly.
The foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, focused on the prospect of escalation, condemning a US attack on a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island that has affected water supplies in 30 villages. He warned that targeting Iran's infrastructure was a dangerous precedent, highlighting that there are as many as 400 desalination plants across the Gulf, raising the risk of a regional water crisis.
Mr Pezeshkian's position was further undermined by an apology he gave in a pre-recorded address, and by his suggestion that Iran's armed forces may have fired at will after the US strike on its top command. President Trump characterised the offer as a surrender, a claim Mr Pezeshkian rejected, insisting that the initiative was a collective decision by the temporary tripartite group running the country after the assassination of the late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a sign of fluid wartime authority, senior clerics and hardline newspapers have called for the election of a new supreme leader as soon as possible. Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi said the choice was essential amid political confusion, with an announcement potentially coming this weekend. The delay by the 88-member Assembly of Experts may reflect deadlock or a bid to give moderate forces greater influence over war strategy.
Gulf states have grown increasingly angry, insisting they had told Iran that US bases and airspace would not be used in any American attack, yet attacks have hit oil refineries, hotels and airports. A western diplomat described the president's address as merely “one data point”, while Mr Pezeshkian's deputy communications director, Mehdi Tabatabaei, insisted the message was clear: Iran would not attack regional countries if they did not cooperate with US strikes, but would never yield to force.
