Iran: hard-liners attack President and Foreign Minister over US diplomacy - report
According to a New York Times report, the physical assaults on Tehran's leadership preceded IRGC's attack on commercial ships in Hormuz Tuesday
Ppolitical fractures within Iran’s leadership have erupted into physical violence as the country’s president and foreign minister were reportedly both physically assaulted by ultra-hard-line factions furious over diplomatic talks with the US.
The New York Times reported the attacks occurred on Monday against the backdrop of a weeklong, five-city funeral procession for Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to social media videos verified by The New York Times, a crowd of hard-line supporters targeted President Masoud Pezeshkian during the procession, attempting to tackle him while chanting "death to the appeaser." Security personnel managed to pull a dazed Pezeshkian to safety.
Shortly after, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was struck with a rock and chased down an alleyway by flag-waving attackers calling for his death.
A minority hard-line faction vehemently opposes any truce with Washington, while the more pragmatic government faction favoring talks has simultaneously accused the United States of "bullying" and violating the existing terms of the fragile agreement.
The New York Times noted that this domestic volatility quickly spilled into the broader region; hours after the assaults, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, triggering heavy US retaliatory airstrikes on Iran's southern shores and subsequent Iranian missile strikes on American military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.