The Iranian currency—now among the weakest in the world—fell to around 1,850,000 to the U.S. dollar on May 2.By Mardo Soghom, Middle East ForumThe leadership in Tehran increasingly projects confidence that it has gained the upper hand against the United States by resisting pressure to engage in serious negotiations.Officials are already suggesting—perhaps prematurely—that the U.S. naval blockade has not delivered the decisive leverage Washington intended.At the same time, Iran is reportedly advancing a new proposal aimed at consolidating its role in controlling the Strait of Hormuz, while effectively sidelining the nuclear issue.Nour News, a website close to the national security council, in an article on May 3, 2026, declared, “For the first time, the United States faces three options—war, negotiations, or continuing the blockade—none of which is desirable. In this context, the ‘war of blockades’ has become an arena where shifting global pressure and the growing prominence of the Strait of Hormuz have tilted the balance in Iran’s favor.”On May 3, the intelligence organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a short post saying Washington is in a no-win situation.The opening lines read like a compressed list of what Iranian hardline messaging presents as “current realities,” rather than independently verified facts.In this framing, Iran is said to have issued an ultimatum to the Pentagon over the blockade, while China, Russia, and European countries are portrayed as shifting their tone against Washington.It also characterizes a recent communication by President Donald Trump to Congress as defensive and suggests that the United States has effectively accepted Iran’s conditions for negotiations.Taken together, these points are meant to build a narrative that Washington is under growing pressure and losing strategic flexibility, setting up the conclusion that the U.S. now faces a narrow and difficult choice.It is not clear why an intelligence organization issues foreign policy edicts, instead of the foreign ministry, the president, or the speaker of parliament, who happened to be the lead Iranian negotiator last month.Parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf—who recently faced accusations by other hardliners for showing too much flexibility in the talks—now appears to be underscoring his loyalty to Mojtaba Khamenei, the supposed supreme leader who has neither appeared in public nor been directly heard from for more than two months.One of his parliamentary allies, Mojtaba Zarei, told the Guard’s Tasnim website that he had a two-hour meeting with the speaker, during which Ghalibaf reportedly said, “Goodness in this world and the hereafter lies in obedience to the rule of the Supreme Jurist (supreme leader)—now Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei.”Ghalibaf reportedly insisted that all his moves during the talks in Islamabad had been coordinated with Mojtaba Khamenei—although many believe that the new “leader” sustained severe injuries or perhaps even died during the bombing of the compound in Tehran on February 28, 2026, that killed his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.Ghalibaf uses language that carefully sidesteps the question of whether he met with Mojtaba Khamenei or the coordination he speaks of happened indirectly.This is an important question because some Iran-watchers believe that the invisible “leader” is incapacitated and the Revolutionary Guard’s new top commander, Ahmad Vahidi, speaks on his behalf.Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a prominent hardline member of the Islamic parliament, added his voice to those who say Tehran has the upper hand. ]“Certainly, we will not back down in the face of this American bullying. We attach no importance to their threats, and the definite victor of this war will be the Islamic Republic of Iran and the resistance.”Despite the bluster, the reality in Tehran tells a different story.The Iranian currency—now among the weakest in the world—fell to around 1,850,000 to the U.S. dollar on May 2, as officials struggle to convince the public that they can intermittently break the American naval blockade and continue exporting oil. Authorities are urging businesses to avoid layoffs, even as hundreds of thousands already have lost their jobs.Meanwhile, a government-imposed internet blackout, now in its third month, has severely damaged small businesses reliant on online and retail commerce.At the same time, a form of stalemate appears to have taken hold. Some analysts argue that Trump may have limited options left, short of resuming military action—either to compel Tehran to change course or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.The post Iran says US is cornered despite its own economic strain appeared first on World Israel News.