This position has allowed Iran’s moderate camp, represented by President Masoud Pezeshkian and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, to defend their position in favor of negotiations. Amid deteriorating living conditions and signs of renewed street protests, driven by the collapse of the national currency, shortages of some essential goods and rising unemployment, Pezeshkian stressed that war “is not always a way to overcome problems,” and that Tehran’s approach is based on understanding and resolving issues through engagement and negotiations. He noted that “a knot that can be untied by hand should not be untied with the teeth” (meaning that problems should be solved peacefully rather than through force) and said that those who defended the memorandum of understanding “are thinking about the country’s dignity and standing.”
