With Iran already suffering economic and diplomatic losses, hardliners forced the resignation of two senior officials and blocked talks with the United States, freezing President Masoud Pezeshkian's agenda.
Iran's conservatives have ousted two senior officials, throwing President Masoud Pezeshkian's new moderate government into chaos and raising questions about its survival.
The conflict comes amid a raft of crises facing Iran, including energy shortages, soaring inflation, a collapsing currency, the military defeat of most of its regional allies, and the return of President Trump and more hostile U.S. policies.
Within hours on Sunday, parliament impeached Finance Minister Abdolnasser Hemmati, and the judiciary forced Mohammad Javad Zarif, a prominent former foreign minister, to step down as vice president for strategy.
The current parliament and judiciary are controlled by conservatives, who have warned that more impeachments will follow. In Iran’s theocratic system, although there is an elected government, appointed bodies dominated by clerics disqualify candidates they deem unacceptable, which contributed to the very low turnout in recent parliamentary elections, and they can block legislation.
Mr Pezeshkian responded to the ousting of his two key allies by giving an unusually blunt public speech in parliament on Sunday. He appeared stunned and angry, at times raising his voice and waving his arms, and said Iran was waging a “full-scale war” with external enemies.
“Since the day we came to power, we have been faced with a shortage of energy, water and electricity, and on the other hand, with huge debts for payments to the agricultural sector for wheat, to the health and medical sector, pension payments and so on,” Mr. Pezeschkian said, according to a video and text of his speech.
