Iranian moderates pushing for truce could be killed by regime, experts warn

As Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps increasingly dominates Iran, experts warn that moderate leaders calling for talks with the US could be branded as traitors and killed.

By World Israel News Staff

Elements within the Iranian regime that are willing to back peace talks with the United States may be branded as traitors and removed from office or even killed, experts warn.

President Donald Trump has said that the US is currently engaged in ceasefire talks with what he dubbed a “new regime” in Iran.

On Monday, the president confirmed to the New York Post that Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, was among the Iranian officials negotiating with the US.

Ghalibaf later denied the report, taking a hawkish position in a post to his X account.

“The Iranian people demand complete and remorseful punishment of the aggressors. All Iranian officials stand firmly behind their supreme leader and people until this goal is achieved.”

“No negotiations have been held with the U.S., and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped.”

Experts say, however, that members of the moderate wing of the Iranian regime may not be willing to publicly disclose their involvement in talks with the US, given that the more radical wing of the regime, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has become the dominant force in Iran.

Hooshang Amirahmadi, president of the American Iranian Council, told Fox News that anyone within the regime who openly advocates for a negotiated ceasefire faces removal from power or even execution by the IRGC.

According to Amirahmadi, the danger is particularly acute because reformist and pragmatic elements are operating in an environment where suspicion of compromise with Washington has intensified.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declined to identify the US contacts, saying doing so could place them at risk, and said there are “fractures” inside Iran.

Rubio, speaking publicly about the contacts, said he would not disclose who the United States is talking to because naming them could create danger from rival groups inside Iran.

Media outlets linked to Iranian opposition groups, including Iran International and IranWire, have published multiple reports in the past few weeks regarding growing dissent within the regime, as the IRGC seizes control of the country’s civilian leadership, marginalizing the presidency and parliament.