Iran's leadership projects unity, vows retaliation amid reports of internal rifts

Iran's leadership on Thursday emphasized national unity and vowed retaliation against any "aggressor" amid heightened regional tensions and competing reports of internal political strain.

In a joint statement posted on social media X, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said Iran does not distinguish between "hardliners" and "moderates", adding that "all are Iranians and revolutionaries".

"With ironclad unity of nation and state and obedience to the Supreme Leader, we will make the aggressor regret its actions," the statement said.

Several other senior leaders of the country also published statements highlighting unity.

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement posted on X on Thursday that the current amazing unity among Iranians has led to divisions among the enemies, warning that efforts must be made to prevent hostile media from carrying out malicious plots aimed at undermining Iran's national unity and national security.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi also said in a statement on X that "the failure of Israel's terrorist killings is reflected in how Iran's state institutions continue to act with unity, purpose, and discipline".

He said that "the battlefield and diplomacy are fully coordinated fronts in the same war".

Earlier on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Iran is "having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is".

"They just don't know!" Trump said in the post.

He said that the "hardliners" are losing disastrously on the battlefield, while the "moderates" are not actually moderate at all but are winning respect. There's a "CRAZY!" fighting between them.

Iran's leadership projects unity, vows retaliation amid reports of internal rifts

Many people in Pakistan are hoping for the resumption of the U.S.-Iran peace talks as the mediator country has kept making preparations.

A main mediator between Washington and Tehran, Pakistan has placed Islamabad under extraordinary security in anticipation of the much-awaited second round of peace talks.

Thousands of police personnel, elite commandos and rooftop snipers were deployed across Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi, while major hotels were requisitioned for the expected delegations.

Despite the extensive preparations, the talks did not proceed, as Iran said the United States had failed to honor its prior commitments, citing maritime blockades, seizure of Iranian vessels and continued U.S. threats as key reasons for refusing to negotiate.

Iran had earlier announced a conditional and temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but the move did not lead to the lifting of U.S. restrictions on Iranian ports.

Tehran subsequently declared that it would resume control over passage through the strategic maritime channel.

Many Pakistanis hope the peace talks could continue and ease the price hike that had already pressured people's daily life.

"Whenever oil prices go up, everything else automatically follows suit, such as sugar, cooking oil, flavorings. Ordinary people like us are almost crushed by such cost of living. All I hope for now is that the US-Iran negotiations can proceed smoothly," said a shop owner in Islamabad.

Pakistani people hope for resumption of US-Iran peace talks