Chaos in Iran’s Leadership Circles as IRGC, Officials Repudiate President’s Apology to Neighbors

Iran’s president has set off a fierce debate marked by harsh recriminations within what remains of Iran’s top leadership with his public apology to the Islamic Republic’s neighbors for a series of drone and missile attacks on targets within the Persian Gulf region.The apology — seized on by President Trump as evidence of Iran’s weakness — also exposed what appears to be a breakdown of the country’s command structures, with local and regional commanders making their own decisions about who and what to attack.In a stunning video message published early Saturday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had ordered the military to halt all attacks on Iran’s neighbors in the region except in self-defense, and said he “apologizes personally” for the attacks to date.“The temporary leadership council approved yesterday that neighboring countries should no longer be targeted and missiles should not be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries,” Mr. Pezeshkian said, according to the London-based independent news outlet, Iran International.“The armed forces have so far acted with a kind of ‘fire at will’ authority, but they have now been notified that from now on they must not attack neighboring countries or target them with missiles,” he said.That statement was publicly repudiated within hours in a formal statement from the leadership of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.“President Pezeshkian made a mistake, and our forces demonstrated his mistake,” the IRGC said. “His comments were 5 hours ago, and since then Dubai and Abu Dhabi are being struck. Ignore Pezeshkian’s words during the war.”Since America and Israel launched their coordinated air campaign on February 28, Iran has staged hundreds of missile on drone attacks on airports, refineries and other targets in countries including Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.Bearing out the IRGC statement, continued strikes were reported in some of those countries Saturday, showing that some commanders, including those within the IRGC, were not receiving or were disregarding instructions from the civilian leadership.A similar lack of cohesion was evident within the political leadership, which saw several key figures killed by Israeli airstrikes on the first day of the war. The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, promptly contradicted Mr. Pezeshkian by posting on X to say that the country’s defensive policies remain “unchanged.”“As long as American bases exist in the region, countries will not see peace,” Mr. Ghalibaf wrote. “All officials and the people are united on this principle.”A lawmaker representing the holy city of Qom, Mohammad Manan Raeisi, described the president’s remarks as “humiliating” and said they showed that Iran’s Assembly of Experts should quickly move to select a new leader, according to Iran International.“Did neighboring countries not place their land, assets and hotels at the disposal of our enemies? Should our military not have struck those bases and assets of the enemy that you are now apologizing for so humbly?” Mr. Raeisi wrote.Adding to the embarrassment for some Iranian leaders, Mr. Trump jumped on the apology with a social media post saying Iran “has apologized and surrendered” to its neighbors.Crediting the American and Israeli assault for the policy shift, Mr. Trump said the Iranians “were looking to take over and rule the Middle East. It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries.”That, in turn, prompted a statement from the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who said on X that Mr. Pezeshkian’s “openness to de-escalation within our region … was almost immediately killed by President Trump’s misinterpretation of our capabilities, determination and intent.”“If Mr Trump seeks escalation, it is precisely what our Powerful Armed Forces have long been prepared for, and what he will get,” he posted.Ebrahim Azizi, head of the parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, similarly wrote on X that all American and Israeli bases in the region are “legitimate and lawful targets.”“The Islamic Republic has no red line in defending national interests. This battle continues,” Mr. Azizi wrote.

Chaos in Iran’s Leadership Circles as IRGC, Officials Repudiate President’s Apology to Neighbors

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