Iranian hardliners have reignited a bitter power struggle with reformist politicians as the aftermath of the country’s 12-day war with Israel provokes a fierce contest over the future of the theocracy.
Iran’s setbacks at the hands of Israel and the US, whose campaigns last month killed senior military commanders and largely destroyed the country’s nuclear facilities, have in recent days fuelled recriminations and rancorous debate within the Islamic republic.
Hardline ideologues, who advocate for perennial enmity with the west, have railed against the possibility of re-engaging with the US and attacked Iran’s reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian, who this week suggested he remained amenable to negotiations with Washington.