IRGC benefiting from false hopes of renewed negotiations, expert tells ‘Post’

The indirect talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which many have viewed as a sign of Tehran’s willingness to reengage in negotiations aimed at ending the conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, are only a “half-truth” of what is really taking place, INSS Iran expert Beni Sabti told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

For the first time since the Memorandum of Understanding failed in July, Araghchi and the American envoys communicated through mediators on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Sabti said that the talks and promises to open Hormuz meant little when Iran was continuing to attack ships and attempting to assert control over Hormuz.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to reopen the strait provided Washington openly committed to resolving the conflict diplomatically. However, only a day after the statement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported that a cargo vessel was struck, resulting in two casualties.

Hassan Qashqavi, spokesperson for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, also confirmed on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic had no intention of abandoning its attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz. Parliament adopted provisions allowing the regime authorities to seize 20% of a vessel’s cargo, or its value, from ships violating Iran’s rules for passage through the strait.

'This is the Iranian way'

“They talk, and they attack, and this is the Iranian way, the terrorist organization way. It is exactly what Hamas did during the war. There were negotiations, but there were also attacks and war. They want all their conditions to be met, and then there will be negotiations or an opening of the straits. They want all of the frozen money released, all the wars, especially by Israel against their proxies and against themselves, to stop, and other conditions,” Sabti said. “These seven points cannot be fulfilled, and they know that. So they come for negotiations, but not with 100% desire and will, goodwill, or a true heart. It’s just kind of a theater, a lie that they bring.”

IRGC spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi admitted on Tuesday that he viewed negotiations as another strategy of the war, insisting that “If the country’s interests require it, negotiations can be part of the battle while we remain prepared for combat…One war is fought with weapons; in negotiations, the war is fought with words, arguments and diplomatic methods.”

In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Mohebbi also claimed that Iran had tightened its conditions to end the conflict and had refused Washington’s multiple attempts to return to the negotiating table.

The stark difference between Mohebbi’s narrative and what is being portrayed in New York is where the half-truth lies, Sabti explained. Those in New York were “not the relevant people to talk to” as the IRGC is firmly in control of Iran.

'This is the problem of the West'

“This is the problem of the West: They think the entire Iranian regime is one entity and that it is all the same. If you talk to the president or the foreign minister, it’s like talking to the whole regime, because this is the way it is in the Western world,” he said, adding that those in the IRGC were profiting from Western naivety and using diplomats to “buy a little more time.”

With reports indicating that Saudi Arabia is restarting operations at its East-West Pipeline, potentially allowing 7 million bpd of oil to return to the global market, and frustration growing with the Houthis, Iran’s strategy of holding the strait hostage is slowly failing, he claimed.

With the Iranian economy suffering after years of sanctions that have intensified since Operation Economic Outcast, IRGC officials running the country are also hoping for some relief as a gesture of goodwill from the West, regardless of whether they have any real intention of following through, Sabti concluded.