Breaking news: Hardline opposition inside Iran is now spilling into public view as a possible U.S.-Iran war deal nears a signing window. Dozens of protesters gathered Saturday outside a foreign ministry office in Mashhad after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed the emerging deal on Iranian state television.
CBS News, citing AFP, reported that women in black chadors appeared in a video shared by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, chanting against Araghchi and waving red and black flags. The Times of Israel, also citing agencies and Reuters, reported that a Mashhad resident said some demonstrators called for Araghchi to resign.
Why the Mashhad protest matters
The protest is small in size but important in timing. President Donald Trump and mediator Pakistan have said a memorandum of understanding to wind down the war could be signed as soon as Sunday. Iran’s foreign ministry has sounded more cautious, saying a signing on Sunday would not happen, while still leaving open the possibility that a memorandum could be finalized in the coming days.
That gap has already made the deal politically fragile. The Mashhad protest suggests the pressure on Iranian negotiators is not only coming from Washington, Israel, or regional mediators. It is also coming from hardliners at home who see the Strait of Hormuz as one of Tehran’s most powerful bargaining tools.
Hormuz remains the pressure point
The emerging framework is expected to include steps toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil and gas route Iran has restricted during the war. According to the Associated Press, Trump said the strait would reopen immediately after signing, while Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the deal could be finalized within 24 hours and signed electronically.
Iranian officials have presented the timeline differently. AP reported that Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the signing would not happen Sunday, though the chance of finalizing the memorandum in the coming days was high.
Araghchi has also described Hormuz in strategic terms. CBS reported that he told Iranian state television the draft deal would lift the U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports, which Washington imposed in response to Iran’s blockade activity around the strait. He called the waterway one of Iran’s main instruments of deterrence.
Hardliners see too many concessions
That is what makes the protest politically sharp. The demonstrators and hardline critics argue that a deal could deprive Iran of leverage over Hormuz and that negotiators are giving up too much to end the war. The Times of Israel report said additional social media videos, which AFP could not independently verify, appeared to show chants in Tehran calling for Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to resign.
The Guardian reported Saturday that the proposed deal has competing descriptions from the U.S. and Iranian sides. Iranian accounts have emphasized sanctions relief, a 60-day period for nuclear talks, the reopening of trade, and possible service fees for passage through Hormuz. U.S. officials have framed the same process as a route toward dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and destroying nuclear material.
That mismatch is exactly why a public hardline reaction matters. Even if the first document is signed, the next phase would require technical talks, verification, and decisions on nuclear material, sanctions, shipping, and regional fighting. Any one of those issues could become a veto point for factions that believe Tehran is trading away wartime leverage.
A deal may be close, but not settled
The protest does not mean the deal is collapsing. It does mean the domestic politics around it are getting louder at the worst possible moment for negotiators.
For now, the key facts remain narrow: Trump and Pakistan say a signing could come quickly; Iran says the timing is not yet final; and hardline protesters in Mashhad are openly attacking the diplomat most associated with the talks. If a memorandum is signed Sunday or shortly after, the first test may not be the ceremony. It may be whether leaders in Tehran can sell the deal at home.
Sources: CBS News/AFP, The Times of Israel/Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian.