Iran Posturing and Delaying Peace Talks with U.S.
Executive Summary
As U.S. officials press Iran for urgent progress on nuclear negotiations, Tehran continues to escalate rhetoric and military threats, framing the conflict through the lens of regional resistance. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders have doubled down on anti-Israel and anti-U.S. messaging ahead of high-level talks in Oman, signaling Tehran’s intent to stall concessions while leveraging global unrest to bolster its negotiating position.
Analysis
With nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran at a critical juncture, both rhetoric and military posturing from Tehran have intensified. In a speech to Iranian workers on May 10, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reaffirmed unwavering support for Palestine and denounced any attempt to divert focus from the conflict in Gaza. His language targeted the U.S. and U.K. as active participants in Israeli aggression, calling for Muslim unity and vowing ultimate Palestinian victory.
While U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff warned that talks scheduled for May 12 would be a “make or break” moment, Tehran appears to be delaying meaningful progress. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Tehran’s insistence on maintaining its uranium enrichment capabilities, directly clashing with Witkoff’s stated red line that “an enrichment program can never exist in the state of Iran ever again.”
Further complicating negotiations, IRGC Commander Gen. Mohammad Salami unveiled an underground drone hangar and threatened to retaliate against any source of foreign aggression. He emphasized Iran’s willingness to strike “any point where the enemy acts,” including American and Israeli targets. His remarks follow the Israeli bombing of Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport and Iran’s assertion that it would unleash retaliatory strikes surpassing its previous military actions, like Operation True Promise 1.
These statements—paired with Khamenei’s framing of Israel and the U.S. as shared enemies of the Muslim world—are seen as strategic messaging intended to solidify Iran’s leadership among resistance movements like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Notably, this posturing comes just days after a successful Yemeni missile strike on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, which Iran indirectly celebrated through state-affiliated media.
Despite President Donald Trump’s declaration that the U.S. “will stop the bombings” if Iran and its proxies de-escalate, Iranian leaders remain combative. Gen. Salami dismissed U.S. diplomacy as untrustworthy and warned against Netanyahu’s manipulation of American policy. Meanwhile, Trump continues to threaten Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, describing a potential strike as either “nice” or “vicious,” further eroding the atmosphere of trust.
U.S. officials say Sunday’s Oman meeting will focus solely on nuclear issues, leaving Iran’s support for regional militant groups for a separate discussion. But Iranian leaders appear to be using that separation to their advantage—publicly maintaining support for anti-Israel operations while treating the nuclear talks as leverage.
The Biden administration’s effort to reintegrate Iran diplomatically may falter if Tehran continues to link regional resistance to its international legitimacy. While the U.S. offers economic and diplomatic incentives, Iranian hardliners present confrontation as national duty and divine mandate.
