This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In response to a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated: "Some people inside the country keep bringing up the issue of negotiations, asking, 'Why don't you negotiate with the U.S.?' I want to be clear: If the goal of negotiations is to lift sanctions, that will not happen. Instead, it will only tighten the noose and increase the pressure."
That was March 12. Two days later, former President Hassan Rouhani, who served two terms between 2013 to 2021, responded to Khamenei's remarks, warning: "The situation is extremely critical, and the more we move forward, the harder and worse it becomes."
Rouhani further emphasized that negotiations should not be seen as a personal stance of Khamenei, stating: "We argue over whether to negotiate or not. But what kind of debate is this? Then we attach it to the idea that the supreme leader opposes negotiations. The truth is, that the supreme leader is not fundamentally against negotiations. Under current conditions, he may reject them today, but in a few months, given new circumstances, he might support them."
Seeing negotiation as a way out, Hassan Rouhani is deeply concerned about the rising tide of public anger. Four decades of clerical rule have left a nation simmering with frustration – anger that, like a ticking time bomb, threatens to detonate beneath the regime.
Khamenei is more aware than anyone of the existential threats facing his rule. He knows economic collapse and widespread hunger – now affecting more than two-thirds of Iran's population – have pushed the country to the brink of a massive uprising. He also understands that this time, the regime is up against more than just spontaneous protests. Thousands of resistance units across Iran are waiting for the right spark to ignite a nationwide rebellion, one that would drive the regime toward its downfall.
For the past decade, these units – established by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or MEK, the regime's sworn enemy – have spread into every neighborhood, town, and city. Despite the regime's extensive surveillance networks and security forces, the opposition has managed to carry out 60 anti-repression operations across Iran in March alone, relying on their deep social base.
Khamenei is also fully aware that this time, the international community – particularly Europe and the U.S. – stands united in its efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and regional influence.
In their latest statement, G7 members declared: "Iran is the primary source of instability in the region and must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran must change course, de-escalate tensions, and choose diplomacy."
The recent U.S. attack on the Houthis at Trump's direction was another strong warning to Khamenei intended to bring him to the negotiating table.
Khamenei knows negotiations will inevitably force him into a step-by-step retreat. First, he will have to abandon Iran's nuclear program. From there, his authority will begin to erode, like a crumbling, decaying structure. This collapse will only deepen the rifts within the regime, pitting rival factions against each other in an all-out power struggle. Under such conditions, and due to the presence of major organized resistance within Iran, Ali Khamenei prefers to avoid negotiations, even at the cost of potential attacks on his nuclear facilities. The fall of Khamenei's rule is no longer a possibility – many see it as a foregone conclusion.
In a nation that has endured 45 years of repression and bloodshed at the hands of violent, dictatorial religious fanatics, tensions have reached a breaking point. Iran today is a powder keg, and Ali Khamenei's authority – already weakened by internal dissent following Syria's collapse – hangs by a thread. Once it unravels, the "wolves" within the regime will turn on one another. And when that moment of weakness arrives, the final uprising will not just be possible. It will be inevitable.
