Iran’s good cop, bad cop game implodes as experts warn regime views US as 'evil'

Days aft Iran’s activity projected a unified front, undermining nan long-cited moderate-vs.-hardliner divide, President Donald Trump canceled planned talks pinch Tehran successful Islamabad, Pakistan, citing "infighting and confusion" wrong nan regime.

Iranian-American experts reason that societal media posts from Iran’s caller Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and different cardinal officials uncover that nan "good cop, bad cop" maneuver that nan authorities exploited to deceive adversaries and unafraid generous concessions successful atomic negotiations has collapsed.

In a Truth Social station connected Saturday, Trump announced he canceled nan trip, citing "too overmuch clip wasted connected traveling" and "too overmuch work!"

"Besides which, location is tremendous infighting and disorder wrong their ‘leadership,'" nan president added, noting "nobody knows who is successful charge, including them."

President Donald Trump speaks from nan Cross Hall of nan White House successful Washington, D.C., connected April 1, 2026, updating nan federation connected nan warfare successful Iran. (Getty Images)

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"Also, we person each nan cards, they person none!" Trump wrote. "If they want to talk, each they person to do is call!!!"

The implosion of nan hardline-moderate dichotomy wrong nan authorities could person profound consequences for Trump’s attack to nan atomic talks successful Islamabad, experts said. Trump appeared to allude to a blurry disagreement betwixt factions wrong Iran past week.

"Iran is having a very difficult clip figuring retired who their leader is! They conscionable don’t know! The infighting is betwixt nan ‘Hardliners,’ who person been losing BADLY connected nan battlefield, and nan ‘Moderates,’ who are not very mean astatine each (but gaining respect!), and it is CRAZY!" Trump wrote successful an X station Thursday.

Mojtaba Khamenei, nan caller ultimate leader of Iran and 2nd boy of nan precocious Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a gathering successful Tehran, Iran. (Hamed Jafarnejad/ISNA/WANA/Reuters)

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei quickly fired back, claiming "due to nan unusual unity created among compatriots, a fracture has occurred successful nan enemy."

"With applicable gratitude for this blessing, cohesion has go moreover greater and much steel-like, and nan enemies will go much wretched and diminished," Khamenei wrote successful a reply. "The enemy's media operations, by targeting nan minds and psyches of nan people, intend to undermine nationalist unity and security; whitethorn our negligence not let this sinister intent to travel to fruition."

Mariam Memarsadeghi, a elder chap astatine The Macdonald-Laurier Institute and laminitis and head of nan Cyrus Forum for Iran's Future, told Fox News Digital nan Islamic Republic has, for decades, fooled Western policymakers by sending moderates to negotiations arsenic a "window dressing for its panic and subjugation."

A poster of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is pasted connected a motorcycle windshield arsenic authorities supporters stitchery successful Tehran connected April 9, 2026, marking nan 40th time since nan sidesplitting of his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

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The officials would past show their counterparts that they are nether unit from hardliners, implying that nan West must make concessions to fortify them internally.

"Because of nan war, nan Trump management is successful a remarkably advantageous business vis-à-vis nan imperial panic state, 1 ne'er earlier attempted, overmuch little achieved," Memarsadeghi said. "But each clip Trump says regime alteration has already happened, he denies America nan opportunity to finally, genuinely beryllium free of nan world’s apical sponsor of panic and nan existential threat it poses not conscionable to nan group of Iran but to each nan world."

Navid Mohebbi, who worked arsenic a Persian media expert for nan State Department's Public Affairs Bureau, cautioned that while rivalries and factions do beryllium wrong nan Islamic Republic, they are agreed connected nan regime’s halfway principles.

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"Their disagreements are chiefly complete tactics, not basal direction," Mohebbi told Fox News Digital, stressing that existent decision-making powerfulness successful Iran has ever rested pinch nan ultimate leader and nan Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

"So-called moderates person ne'er had nan last opportunity connected cardinal strategical issues and are often utilized to soften nan regime’s image abroad," he said. "From nan position of nan Iranian people, location has been small difference. Across administrations branded 'moderate' aliases 'hardline,' nan strategy has consistently relied connected repression."

Mohebbi cited nan illustration of Iranian authorities President Hassan Rouhani, who presented himself arsenic a moderate, but whose information forces violently killed 1,500 protesters during nan November 2019 uprising.

Members of information forces watch complete nan crowd during a ceremonial convoy for IRGC Navy Chief Alireza Tangsiri and different elder naval commanders killed successful U.S.-Israeli strikes successful precocious March successful Tehran, Iran, connected April 1, 2026. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

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"The aforesaid shape has continued nether Masoud Pezeshkian successful nan January 2026 protestation massacre, reinforcing nan reality that these labels person not translated into meaningful alteration connected nan ground," he said.

A location official, however, insisted location are clashes betwixt moderates and hardliners successful Iran. The charismatic told Fox News Digital that Pezeshkian is simply a moderate, but he "could not moreover make bully connected his run committedness regarding net freedom. To beryllium honest, he’s not moreover been capable to do s---."

"The associated guidance by nan heads of nan 3 branches of powerfulness was successful consequence to Trump’s reference to nan rumor of rift, and besides to nan truth that location are so hardliners and moderates," nan charismatic added. "Look, whenever Iran wants to make concessions, they propulsion moderates nether nan autobus truthful that nan moderates make a deal, and then, nan hardliners blasted them for nan aforesaid concessions each of them had agreed to make."

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Lawdan Bazargan, who was imprisoned by nan Islamic Republic successful nan 1980s for her governmental dissident activities, told Fox News Digital that what officials are seeing now is not nan disappearance of nan divide, but nan vulnerability of what that disagreement really was.

"In reality, each of these figures — Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf [speaker of Iran’s parliament], Saeed Jalili [member of nan Expediency Discernment Council], Pezeshkian, Ahmad Vahidi [head of nan IRGC], Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei [head of Iran’s judiciary] — run wrong nan aforesaid ideological framework," Bazargan said. "They are each committed to nan preservation of nan system, nan projection of powerfulness successful nan region, and confrontation pinch what they specify arsenic ‘the forces of evil,’ namely nan United States and Israel."