Sources within the Iranian leadership have revealed deep and consequential internal divisions over how to respond to US demands for a comprehensive peace agreement, with hardline elements in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and among the clerical establishment surrounding Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei blocking a proposed compromise that had been drafted by pragmatist factions within President Masoud Pezeshkian's government.

Senior officials close to the president told Iran Observator that pragmatist advisors had drafted a proposal that would include verifiable limits on Iran's nuclear program — including a cap on enrichment levels and the reopening of International Atomic Energy Agency inspection protocols suspended since 2023 — in exchange for a phased lifting of sanctions and a verified end to the US naval blockade.

The proposal, described by one source as "the most generous offer Iran has made in a decade," was presented to Khamenei in a closed session of the Supreme National Security Council on April 20. Three sources present at that meeting said it was rejected within minutes by IRGC commanders, who argued it would surrender Iran's strategic deterrent capacity in exchange for "paper promises" from an American administration that had "already broken every agreement it made."

"The IRGC will not accept any agreement that does not restore Iran's full sovereignty," said one hardline figure speaking on condition of anonymity. "We did not spend forty years building this program to give it away at a negotiating table in Islamabad." The statement was reported by Iran's Mehr news agency, which is close to hardline factions, in what analysts saw as a deliberate signal.

The internal divisions have significantly weakened Iran's negotiating position, with US officials reportedly aware of the split and using it to pressure for greater concessions. American negotiators are said to be deliberately targeting IRGC-aligned officials with separate back-channel communications designed to drive wedges between factions, a strategy some regional experts compare unfavorably to the US approach with the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

Pakistani mediators, who had been the primary diplomatic bridge between Washington and Tehran, are now questioning whether Iran is capable of delivering on any agreement. "We can bring the two sides to the table," said one Pakistani official close to the mediation effort. "But we cannot force them to agree. And right now, Tehran is not speaking with one voice."

Khamenei, who survived the February 28 Israeli strikes that targeted IRGC command facilities in Tehran and was described by Iranian state media at the time as "in good health," remains in fragile health according to multiple regional intelligence sources. His age — he is 85 — and the question of succession are adding another layer of uncertainty to Iran's already fractured decision-making apparatus.

Regional analysts warn that internal instability in Iran could itself become a catalyst for resumed hostilities. "When regimes feel threatened from within, they sometimes seek external conflict to rally support," said Dr. Azadeh Khoshkr of the Sharq Institute in Doha. "There is a real risk that the IRGC's domestic political interests become indistinguishable from its preferred foreign policy."

The power struggle is also playing out in Iran's state media, with hardline outlets increasingly critical of Pezeshkian's diplomatic outreach while reformist newspapers have published unusually direct criticism of IRGC interference in civilian government. The public disagreement is without precedent in the Islamic Republic's 46-year history.

European diplomatic sources told Iran Observator that France and Germany had privately approached Iran's Foreign Ministry this week with an alternative mediation framework that would involve the EU as a guarantor of any sanctions relief — a potential face-saving formula that might allow both sides to claim a victory. The proposal is still under review in Tehran, according to the sources.