“We won this round of negotiations. We showed the Americans that we will not step back.”
That is the message now dominating the Islamic Republic’s state television and radio, where officials insist that “America’s excessive demands” prevented any agreement.
The triumphalism is striking. It follows one of the most damaging periods in the Islamic Republic’s history. During the war, the regime lost the former supreme leader, dozens of senior military commanders and significant parts of its military infrastructure in sustained Israeli and American strikes.
Yet there is little sign of moderation. Even as Donald Trump has described the moment as amounting to “regime change”, the rhetoric emerging from Tehran points in the opposite direction: a system that has absorbed the blow and become more radical, not less.
“Today, the key to the Strait of Hormuz is in our powerful hands,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, praising the Islamic Republic’s negotiators.
Others have gone further. “We are not the Islamic Republic of before the war,” said an IRGC affiliated political analyst on state television. “Our condition has changed. Now they must obey us, not only on the Strait of Hormuz, but on our legitimate support for the axis of resistance against Israel.”
But inside the country, the mood is starkly different.
Despite the regime’s attempt to frame the talks as a moment of strength, forcing President Trump to end the war and face a “more powerful” Islamic Republic, many ordinary people were following the negotiations with a very different hope: that they would fail.
“Thousands of us were killed in January protesting the regime. We asked for international support so we would not end up back at the negotiating table with the same people who have suppressed us for years,” said Marjan, not her real name, a lawyer in Tehran, speaking over a heavily restricted internet connection.
“No one here can bear this situation any longer. After weeks of airstrikes, digital blackout, economic collapse, arrests and repression, who gave US officials the right to gaslight us?”
She was referring to remarks by President Trump suggesting that the leadership of the Islamic Republic had changed and that “more logical” figures were now in charge.
“Maybe their names are new to Trump,” said Setareh, also speaking from Tehran. “But we have lived in fear of them for years.”
She pointed to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of parliament and a central figure in the negotiations. “He is an IRGC commander. I was a student in the 1990s when he was involved in crushing the student movement.”
She was referring to the protests of July 1999, when figures including Ghalibaf and Qasem Soleimani were among those who ordered a violent crackdown. The Islamic Republic’s chief negotiator has since spoken openly about his role, at times boasting that he directed what he called a “pincer attack” to suppress anti regime demonstrations.
“I am glad it failed, but I am sick at the thought that they may meet again, that they may reach a breakthrough and strike a deal, and we are the ones who pay the price,” said Arian, a 21 year old university student who lost a friend during the January protests.
“We thought the war was meant to free Iran,” he added, referring to how some Persian language media outside the country have framed the conflict.
After the protests, President Trump told demonstrators that “support is on its way”. Yet American officials have consistently stressed that the war was about nuclear and missile programmes, not outright regime change.
“These are political arguments to convince the world,” Arian said. “We believe he wants to bring down the regime.”
He remains unconvinced by suggestions that Trump’s objective stops short of the collapse of the Islamic Republic.
“The choice of Ghalibaf, and the delegation of around 70 officials who travelled with him to Pakistan to meet the American vice president, was disgusting. Just look at the names,” said Payman, speaking from Tehran via Starlink.
He pointed to Reza Amiri Moghadam, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Pakistan and a member of the negotiating team. “He is wanted by the United States for his role in the abduction, detention, and probable death of a retired FBI agent. Yet Trump’s team met him under what they describe as a ‘new’ Iranian leadership,” Payman said.
That agent, Robert A Levinson, disappeared in 2007 on Kish Island and is believed to have been held by the Islamic Republic, becoming one of the longest held American detainees in history.
“Looking back, the US did not have a clear plan for this war,” Payman said. “It even stopped Israel from doing what it initially intended. I am deeply disappointed with how this has unfolded. Thousands were killed. People were led to believe the US wanted to free them. Now many of us feel we were used by the West as a tool to pressure the regime into negotiating with Trump.”
The failure of the negotiations may disappoint those who had hoped for a resolution. But for many who have been disillusioned by how President Donald Trump has handled the past few days, it may bring a measure of relief, even as significant uncertainty still lies ahead.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.