In a striking departure from the Iranian government's official stance, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has publicly urged Tehran to negotiate a peace agreement with the United States, marking one of the most prominent calls from within Iran's elite for an end to the ongoing conflict.
Writing in an op-ed for the American journal Foreign Affairs, Zarif argued that Iran should offer to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for full sanctions relief.
Despite claiming Tehran holds the "upper hand" in its conflict against the US and Israel, Zarif contended that Iran needed to halt the fighting in order to prevent further loss of civilian lives and damage to its infrastructure.
Zarif cautioned that "although continuing to fight the United States and Israel might be psychologically satisfying, it will lead only to the further destruction of civilian lives and infrastructure." He added that he remained "convinced that war must end on terms consistent with Iran's national interests."
Beyond nuclear limits and the Hormuz question, Zarif also proposed that Iran accept a mutual nonaggression pact with Washington, along with the normalisation of economic relations — a seismic shift given that Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic ties since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Zarif, one of the architects of the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, is regarded as a relative moderate within Iran's political establishment, though he holds no official post in the current government. His intervention is notable precisely because it stands in sharp contrast to the daily messaging from Iran's top military and political officials, who have continued to urge that fighting press on until the United States is defeated.
On the American side, the picture remains mixed. President Trump, for his part, has referenced ongoing talks with Tehran without elaborating, while also threatening to send Iran "back to the stone ages" should it fail to reach an agreement.
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