Hardliners strengthen grip on power in Tehran, demand concessions from Trump before reopening strait

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Monday handed more power to political hard-liners as he staffed key positions in Iran’s security and intelligence establishment, potentially dimming peace prospects as Tehran reaffirmed demands for U.S. concessions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr. Khamenei named several top commanders to fill some of the most glaring gaps in Iran’s security state after the original officeholders were killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes earlier this year.

Ahmad Vahidi, former Iranian defense minister, was officially named the commander-in-chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary group that outnumbers Iran’s conventional military.

In his appointment decree on Monday, Mr. Khamenei urged Mr. Vahidi to bolster the ideological commitment of the IRGC and prepare to carry out “powerful offensive operations against the enemy” if necessary.

Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi was selected as chief of staff of the Armed Forces and former IRGC Intelligence Organization chief Hossein Taeb was tapped to lead the Basij, an auxiliary branch of the paramilitary group.

The appointments follow the elevation of former IRGC head Mohsen Rezaei to secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. The exceptionally influential position will put Mr. Rezaei in direct contact with Mr. Khamenei and, by extension, control over the direction of the war with the U.S.

Mr. Rezaei is wanted on an international arrest warrant and Interpol “Red Notice” in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that killed 85 people.

The appointments are further evidence of the growing control of hardline political operators in Iran, which security analysts have predicted since the war began in late February, and are the latest indicator that an end to the war remains elusive, despite ongoing negotiations between Oman and Iran over a governing agreement for the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran on Monday repeated its demand that an agreement between Iran and Oman would not immediately reopen the strait. Namely, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that the waterway would become safe only if the U.S. lifted its naval blockade, which has been in effect since July.

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway connecting the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, following U.S. and Israeli attacks that started Feb. 28. The strait’s closure has caused energy prices to soar as Gulf nations look for alternative routes to ship their oil.

Brent crude oil, the international standard benchmark, stood at $87 a barrel on Monday afternoon, compared to $79 a barrel a week ago.

In addition to the removal of the blockade, Iran has demanded that the U.S. enforce a regional ceasefire, pay war reparations for damage done during military operations and ease sanctions.

President Trump, whose administration has reportedly been exchanging proposals with Iran through Pakistani and Qatari mediators for weeks, seemed to lash out at Iran’s leadership in a social media post on Monday, saying negotiators had not brought up the issue of reparations before.

“But it is an interesting idea because now I am likewise demanding compensation from Iran, for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added that he would instruct his representatives at future negotiations to demand that Iran pay compensation to families “of the hundreds of thousands of innocent protesters” killed by Iranian authorities.

Mr. Trump earlier this month called off another round of military strikes against Iran after fielding calls from regional leaders and noting promising developments in diplomacy. Administration officials said last week that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would be announced in just a few days.

Iranian officials have publicly denied that they are holding any direct talks with Washington, though U.S. officials say they are exceptionally informed of the details of the Iran-Oman talks.