Disputes are escalating within the Iranian system after the ceasefire agreement with the United States, as anger shifts from the US-Iran war to an internal conflict between a hardline Iranian faction rejecting any settlement with Washington and leaders seeking to manage the new phase, according to a CNN report.

According to the report, as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian walked alongside the coffin of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during his funeral in Tehran last week, some mourners dressed in black around him chanted directly at him: 'Death to the compromise-maker.'

The report also noted that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was forced to flee the funeral ceremony after a group of attendees pelted him with stones, amid chants accusing him of being a 'traitor and seller of principles.'

According to the report, the hostility faced by senior officials during the funeral reflects a theory gaining momentum within Iran's most hardline circles in recent months: that Iran's wartime leaders, who negotiated with Washington and signed the agreement, are carrying out a 'soft coup' against the system, while the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains out of sight, either out of fear for his life or, as some suggest, due to his inability to perform his duties.

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Hardliners accuse new leadership of abandoning Khamenei's legacy

The report stated that the hardline faction, which participated in large numbers in the funeral, believes that Iranian officials, instead of avenging Khamenei's death, surrendered by signing an agreement that contradicts Mojtaba Khamenei's orders.

But Khamenei's son remained away from public view, delivering no direct speech to the people and not appearing clearly to assert his authority, even though officials negotiate or run the country's affairs in his name.

Hardliners accused the visible Iranian leadership—the officials running the country and representing it in Khamenei's absence—of planning to strengthen their influence by suspending parliament, ignoring his directives during negotiations, and attempting to dismantle the nightly street protests that have become a strong power base for hardline factions.

Days before Khamenei's funeral, Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian, known for his hardline positions, wrote on platform X: 'Warning to the Iranian people: Is there a coup on the way?'

Days later, he wrote: 'In these moments when we bid farewell to (Khamenei), we raise the banner of revenge for his blood, and we stand firmly against the coup.'

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Mojtaba's absence opens door to conflict within the system

In the absence of Mojtaba Khamenei, chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Pezeshkian, and Araghchi have become the most prominent figures running Iran in the post-war phase.

Arash Azizi, an Iranian expert based in the United States and author of 'What Iranians Want,' told CNN that hardliners dissatisfied with the performance of these officials accused them of planning a coup because of their inability to access the new Supreme Leader.

Azizi added: 'The continued absence of Mojtaba means they cannot communicate with him, and it also means that Ghalibaf and his allies have practically taken over running the country... Therefore, hardliners accused Ghalibaf and Pezeshkian of planning a coup against Mojtaba.'

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Removing hardliners from centers of influence

On Tuesday, Mahmoud Nabavian, the hardline lawmaker who strongly opposes the agreement with the United States and was one of the most prominent voices warning of a 'coup,' was removed from his position on the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, along with another lawmaker who criticized the agreement.

Nabavian was a member of the Iranian negotiating delegation before turning against the talks, and he also tried to obstruct the agreement by leaking its text to the media before it was signed last month.

Nabavian claimed that the Iranian negotiating team ignored the 'red lines' set by the Supreme Leader during negotiations with the United States. CNN was unable to obtain a comment from him.

Nabavian and other hardline figures belong to the 'Jebhe-ye Samoud' (Resistance Front) faction, whose members are often described by observers as 'ultra-revolutionaries.' They see themselves as guardians of the values of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the pro-Western monarchy and established an Islamic system in Iran.

Experts told CNN that the current Iranian leadership is effectively seeking to marginalize this faction.

Hamid Reza Azizi, a visiting researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told the network: 'We see Ghalibaf exerting influence to remove these hardline elements, as they have become very costly for the system and they bring their disputes into the open, especially amid increasing instability in Iran.'

Although their numbers are limited, they hold influential positions across the country, including within parliament and the official Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which has launched campaigns against President Pezeshkian. It remains unclear how much support this faction enjoys.

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