World 16 Jun 2026

Tehran selling deal with US as victory – but for Iranians it was necessity

For many Iranians, the question is not whether the deal means victory, but whether it lowers prices and reduces fear of another war.

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Iran's leadership is trying to present its emerging memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US not as a retreat, but as the result of resistance and victory. The country has just gone through a damaging war, the economy is under severe pressure, and parts of the Islamic Republic's own support base have spent months denouncing any compromise with Washington. This is the divided political landscape in which Tehran is now trying to sell the deal. Senior Iranian officials have framed the deal as a win. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of parliament and the leading Iranian figure in the talks, said Iran had taken "a long step towards final victory". President Masoud Pezeshkian has described the understanding as potentially transformative, saying that if fully implemented it could resolve many of Iran's problems and create "a different world" in Iran and the Middle East. Qalibaf's role is significant because he is not identified with Pezeshkian's moderate camp; his public support suggests the deal has backing from more powerful parts of the system even within Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards. The leadership is also presenting the agreement as a victory because, in Tehran's argument, the US and Israel failed to achieve their main objectives.

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