Iranian press review: Tehran proposes atomic energy partnership with US
Iran ready to collaborate with US on nuclear energy projects
After Iranian foreign minister announced that Iran is ready to trade with the US and cooperate with American companies on developing atomic reactors, two former Iranian ambassadors emphasised Tehran’s willingness to create such partnerships.
Ali Akbar Faramarzi, former Iranian ambassador to Romania, Hungary, and Cyprus, described Abbas Araghchi’s statement as a calculated message and a positive step toward building trust and cooperation with the US.
“Cooperation in the nuclear field is a smart, reasonable, and well-thought-out proposal,” the Ham-Mihan daily quoted Faramarzi as saying. “If the American side also joins this kind of effort, the two sides can gradually build trust.”
Abdolreza Farajirad, Iran’s former ambassador to Norway, also emphasised the country’s economic crisis caused by US sanctions and underscored the need for cooperation.
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“If a country like the US, China, Russia, or Norway wants to invest in our oil and gas sector, why wouldn’t we be ready? The president, the foreign minister, and the foreign ministry spokesperson have all said we are ready to work with the US like we do with other countries,” he added.
In April, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all domestic and foreign policies, has agreed to economic cooperation with the United States.
Leaked audio revives 1988 massacre of political prisoners
A leaked audio recording about the 1988 execution of Iranian political prisoners has once again drawn public attention to the massacre, as the families of the victim called on international authorities to investigate the case.
The recording, released by BBC Persian, features Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who at the time was the chosen successor to the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In it, Montazeri criticises the executions of prisoners who were already serving their sentences.
He also revealed the involvement of Khomeini’s son and other top officials in what became the Islamic Republic's largest organised mass killing.
The exact number of people executed has never been officially confirmed, but Montazeri refers to at least 3,000 victims in the recording. However, sources close to the families believe the real number is even higher.
Reza Moeini, a relative of one of the prisoners, Heybatollah Moeini, wrote about the importance of the tape: “It confirms the involvement and knowledge of the Islamic Republic’s leaders in this massacre. This means the entire system at the time was responsible.”
Iran paying the price of the past, says former insider
Sadegh Zibakalam, who once supported the Islamic Republic’s hardline policies in the 1980s, has said that Iran is now paying the price for its past by having to negotiate with Donald Trump's team.
Now seen as a reformist with anti-establishment views, his comments were widely shared by reformist media and strongly criticised by outlets that support the government.
During a debate in Tehran with a conservative figure about the latest round of nuclear talks, Zibakalam said: "I believe the Islamic Republic is now paying for its past; how it treated Jimmy Carter, who supported human rights and freedom. The way it treated the educated and civil [Barack] Obama. The way it treated [Joe] Biden, who wasn’t obsessed with power.
"Now, Iran is forced to negotiate with Trump, and we all know how he behaves," he added.
Zibakalam, a retired political science professor who began his career supporting Islamist radicals but later became an establishment critic, faced backlash from the Javan daily.
Javan, which is backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accused him of spreading lies and making false statements.
In January, the academic caused a storm with comments made in Doha, when he said many Iranians hated the Palestinians and supported the Israeli prime minister: “Since 7th of October last year, you'll be surprised at the number of Iranians who hate Palestinians… I saw it with my own eyes during the past 15 months, the degree of hatred of younger generation of Iranians against Palestinians. And their hero was Netanyahu,” he said in a lecture at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Qatar.
Zibakalam has faced multiple cases for "making false statements in the media and on social media".
He was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison and a two-year ban from political activities for "propaganda against the system".
Secret execution sparks outrage
The secret execution of Kurdish prisoner Hamid Hosseinnejad has sparked widespread outrage in Iran, with many citizens voicing their anger on social media.
Hosseinnejad spent months in solitary confinement without access to a lawyer before being charged by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Urmia with collaborating with an armed Kurdish group. He was executed on Sunday without his family being notified.
His trial was marked by legal issues and his family said Hosseinnejad was forced to confess under pressure.
Following the execution, Iranians turned to social media to protest.
One user on X wrote: “Hamid Hosseinnejad was killed defenceless, innocent, silent... While those who stole billions and commanded the regime’s suppression machine walk free and get rewarded!”
Another user noted the timing, recalling the execution of nine political prisoners by the Shah’s dictatorship 50 years ago, despite them already serving their sentences.
“April 19 is a reminder of the cowardly execution of political prisoners by the Shah. Today, the Islamic Republic executed Hamid Hosseinnejad. The killer has changed its clothes, but its nature is still the same,” wrote this user.
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