WASHINGTON \u2014 An ugly internal power struggle in Iran is muddying mediation talks with the US, as pro-war and pro-deal factions battle it out over whether Tehran should ever surrender, sources familiar with mediation efforts tell The Post.<\/p>\n
Though Iran\u2019s political elites \u2014 including its president, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker \u2014 have been at the center of efforts to hammer out peace terms<\/a>, regional sources told The Post that it\u2019s Iran\u2019s military leadership that ultimately has the power to accept or reject any agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cOne faction there right now is at its highest point ever in its history \u2014 the IRGC,\u201d a source told The Post. \u201cThe nationalist feeling (that comes with war) gives them the highest pedestal.\u201d <\/p>\n As a military force, the IRGC\u2019s power surges in times of conflict \u2014 and with the group at the helm, some within Tehran have an interest in seeing the war continue, sources familiar with the negotiations told The Post this week.<\/p>\n The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has ultimate say over whether or not Iran submits to a peace agreement, sources told The Post this week. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n The split helps explain why Iran has repeatedly tested US patience \u2014 launching attacks that provoke American retaliation without fully shattering the fragile cease-fire.<\/p>\n President Trump himself has shied away from defining what level of attack, exactly, would warrant a return to full-scale war, cryptically telling a reporter this week that \u201cyou\u2019ll find out\u201d when he determines a strike reaches the level of breaking the cease-fire.<\/p>\n Those tests came to a head on Friday, when the US launched airstrikes targeting three empty Iranian-linked tankers that tried to barrel through the US blockade of Iranian ports<\/a>, according to US Central Command.<\/p>\n A US Navy F\/A-18 Super Hornet disabled two tankers attempting to break past the American blockade on Tehran\u2019s ports \u201cafter firing precision munitions into their smokestacks,\u201d CENTCOM said in a post to X.<\/p>\n The ships \u2014 the Iranian-flagged M\/T Sea Star III and M\/T Sevda \u2014 were attempting to breach the blockade to reach an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman.<\/p>\n The strikes stopped the ships from reaching port, as video showed thick black smoke rising from the vessels after the strikes.<\/p>\n A third ship was also stopped when an F\/A-18 Super Hornet \u201cdisabled the unladen oil tanker\u2019s rudder by firing several rounds from a 20mm cannon gun,\u201d the combatant command said.<\/p>\n A US Navy F\/A-18 Super Hornet disabled two tankers attempting to break past the American blockade on Tehran\u2019s ports after firing precision munitions into their smokestacks. US Central Command<\/p>\n The US has roughly 15,000 troops enforcing the blockade<\/a>, which took effect April 13, and CENTCOM said Friday that American forces are currently preventing more than 70 tankers from entering or leaving Iranian ports.<\/p>\n \u201cThese commercial ships have the capacity to transport over 166 million barrels of Iranian oil worth an estimated $13 billion-plus.\u201d<\/p>\n Analysts have warned that mounting tensions over the blockade could accidentally trigger a return to full-scale war, but the US appears determined to avoid that outcome.<\/p>\n The US has avoided formally ending the cease-fire despite multiple skirmishes<\/a> in recent days, including retaliatory strikes Thursday evening that Trump downplayed as a \u201clove tap\u201d after Tehran targeted three US warships in the strait.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not only US vessels that have come under Iranian attack as Tehran considers the strait under its sovereignty \u2014 demanding tolls for ships to pass and attacking those that threaten its grip.<\/p>\n On Monday, Iran attacked a Chinese-owned oil products tanker near the Strait of Hormuz off the United Arab Emirates coast. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Friday acknowledged the attack and said Beijing would continue pushing for peace talks and de-escalation.<\/p>\n \u201cChina is deeply concerned that a large number of vessels along with their crew have been caught in the conflict and stranded in the strait,\u201d Lin said.<\/p>\n On Friday, Iran also seized a Barbados-flagged tanker sanctioned by the US that was carrying Iranian oil in the Gulf of Oman, according to the Islamic Republic\u2019s army.<\/p>\n The ship, called the Ocean Koi, was stopped and forced back to the southern coast of Iran following an alleged attempt to \u201charm and disrupt oil exports \u2026 by exploiting regional conditions,\u201d Tehran\u2019s military said.<\/p>\n Iranian Revolutionary Guards drive speedboats have charged ships of multiple nations in the Strait of Hormuz. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n The US on Monday launched a short-lived mission, Project Freedom, to escort ships through the strait, but Trump called it off Tuesday following requests by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and \u201cother countries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have mutually agreed that, while the blockade will remain in full force <\/a>and effect, Project Freedom \u2026 will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n While the cease-fire remained in effect Friday, so too did the maritime blockade, which CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said the US would continue enforcing.<\/p>\n \u201cUS forces in the Middle East remain committed to full enforcement of the blockade of vessels entering or leaving Iran,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cOur highly trained men and women in uniform are doing incredible work.\u201d<\/p>\n