Iran’s top general becomes flashpoint in hardliner power struggle

A rare public clash over Iran’s top military commander has laid bare fault lines within Iran's hardline camp, exposing sensitivities over domestic and foreign policy as well as the country's ultimate taboo: the succession of a new Supreme Leader.

A news website and a newspaper widely seen as the mouthpieces of rival ultra-conservative factions clashed last week over recent controversial comments by the Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri.

At issue are his apparent criticism of harsh police tactics and revelation of details about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's confidential reply to a letter from US President Donald Trump.

“How is it that the Chief of Staff is taking such positions … despite the clear directive of the Leader of the Revolution regarding countering the enemy’s calculations?” ultra-hardline outlet Raja News wrote in an editorial last Thursday.

Quick with a response was rival daily Javan, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a military body officially under Bagheri's command but whose head is chosen by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In a harshly worded commentary on Saturday, it accused Raja News of sowing factional discord which hurts national security and does not serve Khamenei.

The dispute is remarkable not just for its tone but for its target: Bagheri is one of Khamenei’s top appointees and widely seen as a stabilizing figure within Iran’s complex military establishment.

What sparked the criticism?

Iran’s ultra-hardliners—sometimes called ‘super revolutionaries’ by rival camps—first took issue with Bagheri in March, when on the occasion of Iranian New Year the Chief of Staff released a video message recorded at the historic ruins of Persepolis.

The super-revolutionaries condemned his choice of venue and outfit on social media: an ancient, pre-Islamic site rather than a religious one, and civilian clothing instead of a uniform—which the activists said signals pacifism rather than resistance.

Then came Bagheri discussing in public Khamenei’s response to Trump’s March 7 letter: that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, sought peace in the region but would not abandon its civilian nuclear program and would negotiate only indirectly with the US.

Raja News criticized him for referring to the Supreme Leader instead of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The last instance—which appears to have triggered Raja News to attack Bagheri for past remarks—came on May 25, when Bagheri urged Iran’s law enforcement to adapt to the country’s “highly complex and evolving society.”

“The police command will get nowhere if it tries to deal with it using a harsh approach, batons and daggers,” he said in a speech on a university campus in Tehran.

This was seen as a veiled critique of attempts to revive enforcement of a stalled new hijab law, which has been suspended since last September despite hardliner pressure.

Is this really about Bagheri?

The outlet at the heart of the controversy, Raja News, is linked with the far-right Paydari Party and its allies including former nuclear negotiator and presidential candidate Saeed Jalili.

The camp is known to be in a cold war with another presidential candidate, Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, whose supporters joined the Bagheri fray in favor of the Commander in Chief.

“This radical group is smearing all the country’s officials, including the Leader’s appointees, with flawed arguments and hiding behind the Leader,” posted Nader Alizadeh, a pro-Ghalibaf activist, on X.

Some linked the criticism to Bagheri’s recent report on the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi suggesting it may have contradicted hardliner claims that the crash was a foreign plot.

Others suggested the controversy has more to do with the looming question of succession, reflecting anxieties about post-Khamenei leadership and loyalty within the armed forces.

“Obedience and absolute loyalty of the armed forces to the new Leader chosen by the Assembly of Experts will be crucial,” political analyst Mohammad-Ali Ahangaran posted on X. “This is the crux of the matter.”