Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and erected what sources described as a security cordon around Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, a report published Tuesday by Iran International said.

The IRGC effectively has assumed control over key state functions, the report claimed.

«It was always a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step forward even more than it has in the last three decades,» Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Pezeshkian has reached a «complete political deadlock» as tensions between his administration and the military leadership deepen, according to the report.

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The reported shift could have major consequences far beyond Iran. 

Analysts say a more powerful IRGC likely would mean a more confrontational Iran, less willing to compromise in talks with Washington and more inclined to continue military escalation across the region. With U.S.-Iran negotiations already faltering and uncertainty growing over whether Tehran will even send negotiators to the next round of talks, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard raises fresh doubts about who actually is making decisions in Iran and whether any civilian official can still speak for the regime.

«But it’s a mistake to assume this is some sort of coup,» Ben Taleblu said. «This has been the process in Iran for years now, as the regime has chosen conflict over cooperation and emboldened its security forces at every juncture.»

Pezeshkian’s recent effort to appoint a new intelligence minister collapsed after direct pressure from IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, sources told Iran International, arguing that all proposed candidates, including former Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, were rejected.

FILE- Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade. The IRGC is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. A large part of its work is to covertly operate outside of Iran.  (Reuters)

Vahidi reportedly insisted that under wartime conditions, all critical and sensitive positions must be chosen and managed directly by the Revolutionary Guard until further notice.

«By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots,» Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital.

Under Iran’s system, the president traditionally nominates an intelligence minister only after securing approval from the supreme leader. But with the condition and whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei unclear in recent weeks, the IRGC appears to be increasingly acting without civilian oversight.

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RGC commander Ahmad Vahidi reportedly insisted that under wartime conditions, all critical and sensitive positions must be chosen and managed directly by the Revolutionary Guard until further notice.  (Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo via Getty Images)

The report claims Pezeshkian repeatedly has sought an urgent meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei but has been unable to establish contact.

Instead, according to Iran International, a «military council» made up of senior IRGC officers now controls access to the center of power, preventing government reports from reaching Mojtaba and effectively isolating him from the elected government.

Still, analysts say the reported power struggle reflects a longer trend in Iran, where the Revolutionary Guard has steadily expanded its influence over politics, the economy, and national security.

Ben Taleblu argued that Pezeshkian’s apparent sidelining should not be viewed as a dramatic break from the past because the president never exercised significant independent authority.

«Those who worry about Pezeshkian’s potential sidelining need to consider what he realistically was or wasn’t able to do mere months ago when the regime slaughtered 40,000 Iranians in the streets,» he said.

Pezeshkian, elected in 2025 on promises of moderation and reform, has repeatedly found himself constrained by the security establishment and the clerical leadership.

The latest report suggests that dynamic has intensified dramatically as Iran faces growing external pressure and internal uncertainty.

One of the most striking claims involves Ali Asghar Hejazi, a powerful security official inside the office of the supreme leader.

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A banner featuring Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is displayed in Tehran, Iran, March 14, 2026. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Some of Mojtaba Khamenei’s associates are now trying to push Hejazi out because he opposed Mojtaba succeeding his father, according to Iran International.

The report said Hejazi warned members of the Assembly of Experts that Mojtaba lacked the qualifications to become supreme leader and that hereditary succession would violate the principles laid out by Ali Khamenei.

Hejazi reportedly also warned that putting Mojtaba in power would effectively hand the country to the Revolutionary Guard and permanently sideline civilian institutions.

That warning increasingly appears to reflect what is already happening.

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Analysts say the latest developments suggest the IRGC is no longer operating behind the scenes, but is openly emerging as the dominant force in Tehran.  (AFP/Via Getty Images)

The Revolutionary Guard, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the regime, has long evolved far beyond a military force. It now controls major sections of Iran’s economy, oversees the country’s missile and nuclear programs, and exerts influence across nearly every branch of government.

Analysts say the latest developments suggest the IRGC is no longer operating behind the scenes, but is openly emerging as the dominant force in Tehran.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment.

A Democrat running for Congress in Michigan is campaigning on a ‘Made in America’ platform, but has a history of outsourcing jobs and products at his own companies.

Matt Maasdam is under scrutiny for expressing a desire to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. from overseas while relying on offshore production during his time at Under Armour and at two other companies he helped found — one of which is credited with making ‘Joe Rogan’s favorite jeans.’

The Navy SEAL-turned-businessman is running in a crowded primary to take on Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., who flipped the seat in 2024 after Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., vacated to run for Senate.

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Maasdam’s campaign website says one of his top priorities if elected to Congress would be «making more essential goods here in America, ensuring jobs pay fair wages, and keeping our manufacturing and food supply chains strong so we’re not dependent on countries like China.»

PECOS Outdoor — a portable work table company where Maasdam is CEO — sought to use products from a Chinese vendor, according to a 2022 shipping record obtained by Fox News Digital.  The record denoted that PECOS received a container of samples from the Nanjing Tuchun Import and Export Co. in 2022. 

Additionally, both Under Armour and Revtown, which he co-founded, outsourced production of their clothing to foreign countries.

Emma Grundhauser, Maasdam’s campaign manager, argued in a statement to Fox News Digital that he took the opportunity to build a company that makes things in America, «because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s easy.» 

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Tom Barrett speaks at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 4, 2024, before former President Donald Trump holds his final campaign rally ahead of election day. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP)

«A one-off shipment of samples doesn’t change that record,» Grundhauser said. «Matt has been clear since day one: as a congressman, he’ll fight to keep the Michigan dream alive by making more things here in America so we’re not dependent on countries like China.»

«Michigan’s labor unions are standing with Matt because they know he’ll fight to bring jobs home — unlike Tom Barrett, who voted for Trump’s reckless tariffs that have killed nearly 100,000 American manufacturing jobs,» she continued. 

During a candidate forum in Michigan earlier this month, an audience member asked Maasdam about his private sector record after he highlighted endorsements from local labor unions. He insisted it was impossible to manufacture jeans in America as an excuse for why the apparel companies found work outside the U.S.

«I worked for Under Armour. They made a lot of their stuff overseas. I wasn’t in charge of Under Armour, right? As much as I would like to make that stuff here, we didn’t,» Maasdam admitted.

After serving as a military aide to former President Barack Obama — often spotted carrying the nuclear football during his administration — Maasdam entered the private sector and worked for sportswear company Under Armour. He later started his own apparel company, Revtown, best known for producing jeans branded as podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan’s favorite.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., right, listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Friday in which he blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)

Under Armour relies heavily on outsourcing, and similarly Revtown sourced denim from Italy and manufactured its clothing in Guatemala.

«There were two good denim mills in the world — one is in Italy, one is in Japan. There are none in America. So when you talk about how to get denim to America, we don’t make it,» Maasdam saidat the forum. «We don’t actually make the material, right? And so we would bring that to Guatemala, then it got cut and sewn, and we brought it here to sell it.»

Maasdam later co-founded PECOS Outdoor, a Texas-based outdoor table company that touts its commitment to making and sourcing products in the U.S.

«I got poached from that company to start another company, and everything in that company was made in America and assembled in America,» Maasdam said. «And so from the perspective of like where is my heart and mind in terms of that stuff, it’s here, in the United States. So, that’s what we did.»

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But the 2022 shipping record obtained by Fox News Digital shows PECOS received a shipment of sample materials from a Chinese vendor, meaning none of the companies Maasdam has helped lead are free from foreign outsourcing.

PECOS Outdoor and Revtown did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republicans are hoping to maintain control of the Michigan seat to preserve their narrow majority in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, Democrats are eyeing the district — which has proved flippable before — as a pickup opportunity in their bid to regain a majority in the House.

«Millionaire Matt Maasdam lined his own pockets by shipping jobs overseas,» National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Zach Bannon told Fox News Digital when asked about the revelations. «Maasdam has proven he will put his own bank account ahead of hardworking Michiganders.»

Estados Unidos e Irán cruzaron amenazas a menos de dos días del vencimiento del alto el fuego, mientras persistió la incertidumbre sobre una posible reanudación de las negociaciones en Islamabad y crecieron las advertencias de una nueva escalada militar en Medio Oriente. Una fuente confirmó a la AFP que la delegación estadounidense, encabezada nuevamente por el vicepresidente JD Vance, tenía previsto partir “pronto” hacia la capital pakistaní, aunque no precisó ni la fecha exacta ni la agenda del viaje.

El diálogo busca poner fin a la guerra en Medio Oriente que estalló el 28 de febrero tras los ataques de Israel y EEUU contra Irán, un conflicto que dejó miles de muertos, sobre todo en Irán y Líbano, y que impactó en la economía global y en los mercados energéticos.

En este contexto, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, volvió a endurecer su discurso sobre uno de los puntos centrales del conflicto: el programa nuclear iraní. El mandatario sostuvo el lunes por la noche qu que obtener el uranio iraní sería un proceso “largo” y “difícil” después de los ataques estadounidenses del año pasado contra instalaciones nucleares en Teherán.

“La Operación Martillo de Medianoche, en 2025, fue una aniquilación completa y total de los sitios de ‘polvo nuclear’ en Irán”, escribió Trump en Truth Social, en referencia al uranio. “Por lo tanto, sacarlo será un proceso largo y difícil”, añadió.

La declaración contrastó con la postura que había expresado el viernes, cuando prometió que el uranio iraní sería llevado a Estados Unidos “en breve” una vez que Teherán aprobara la operación. La república islámica lo desmintió el lunes y reiteró que no tenía intención de desarrollar armas nucleares.

El cambio de tono de Trump se produjo poco después de que señalara el lunes a Bloomberg que la tregua expiraba “el miércoles por la noche, hora de Washington” y que una extensión resultaba “muy improbable”. En teoría, el cese de hostilidades de dos semanas vencía en la madrugada del miércoles, hora de Teherán.

Desde Irán, la respuesta fue inmediata. El presidente del Parlamento, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, rechazó las presiones estadounidenses y advirtió sobre una posible reacción militar. “No aceptamos negociaciones bajo la sombra de amenazas y, en las últimas dos semanas, nos preparamos para mostrar nuevas cartas en el campo de batalla”, escribió en X.

En la misma línea, el portavoz de la Cancillería iraní, Esmail Baqai, afirmó que el país no tenía “en este momento” ningún “plan para el próximo ciclo de negociaciones y no se tomó ninguna decisión al respecto”.

Trump también elevó la presión con nuevas advertencias. Si las exigencias de Washington no se cumplían antes del fin de la tregua, “empezarán a explotar muchas bombas”, declaró al canal PBS. Además, ratificó que mantendría el bloqueo sobre los puertos iraníes “hasta que haya un ‘ACUERDO’” con Teherán.

Washington acusó a Irán de violar la tregua mediante ataques a buques en el estrecho de Ormuz, un corredor estratégico para el suministro mundial de hidrocarburos. Sin embargo, la empresa de datos marítimos Lloyd’s List Intelligence informó que “al menos 26 buques de la flota fantasma iraní eludieron el bloqueo estadounidense” desde que se instauró la semana pasada.

La tensión también se reflejó en los mercados. Tras la fuerte suba registrada el día anterior, los precios del petróleo retrocedieron este martes en Asia, aunque el foco continuó puesto sobre Ormuz. Desde China, el líder Xi Jinping reclamó estabilidad en la zona y remarcó que el paso marítimo “debe permanecer abierto”.

En Teherán, mientras tanto, la actividad cotidiana mostró señales de recuperación después de semanas de conflicto. Los principales aeropuertos reabrieron el lunes por primera vez en semanas y las cafeterías y parques volvieron a llenarse. Sin embargo, varios habitantes consultados por la AFP ofrecieron una visión más crítica sobre la situación interna.

“No hay luz al final del túnel. La economía está fatal. Están deteniendo a gente por nada”, afirmó Saghar, una mujer iraní de 39 años que pidió resguardar su apellido.

En paralelo, el frente libanés continuó bajo extrema fragilidad. Pese al alto el fuego de diez días que entró en vigor el viernes entre Israel y el grupo terrorista Hezbollah, ambas partes se acusaron de incumplir la tregua. Para el jueves quedaron previstas nuevas conversaciones a nivel de embajadores en Washington con el objetivo de avanzar hacia un acuerdo de paz.

(Con información de AFP)