Iran’s Two Visions of Survival: Negotiation or Resistance 

The dispute between Iran’s reformists and conservatives 

By Elijah J. Magnier –

The struggle inside Iran is often reduced to a confrontation between reformists seeking accommodation with the West and conservatives determined to perpetuate conflict. The reality is more complex. Both currents reject surrender, defend Iran’s sovereignty and regard the United States as fundamentally hostile. Their disagreement concerns the price Iran can continue to pay, the credibility of negotiations with Washington and the relationship between military resistance and the survival of the state.

This division has become more visible as the war, American sanctions and the blockade impose growing pressure on the Iranian economy. It can be heard in the debate over negotiations, seen in tensions surrounding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and measured in something as ordinary—and politically explosive—as the price of petrol.

President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government favours an agreement with the United States, whereas the IRGC believes neither Washington nor President Donald Trump can be trusted. Sources close to Pezeshkian’s political current argue that the IRGC favours a strategy that risks pushing the country towards economic exhaustion.