Iran’s wartime leadership is pushing a staged diplomatic path with Washington as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gains greater influence over Tehran’s strategic decisions, according to a Reuters report published Tuesday.

The report says Iran submitted a new proposal that would begin with talks on ending the war and resolving Gulf shipping disputes, while leaving the nuclear issue for a later stage. That sequencing has become a central obstacle, with Washington insisting that nuclear questions must be addressed from the start.

The shift comes after the reported death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the elevation of Mojtaba Khamenei, whose role is described by sources as more symbolic than directive. Real wartime power, the report says, is increasingly concentrated among IRGC commanders, security officials and a narrower hardline leadership circle.

That structure could slow diplomacy. A Pakistani official briefed on mediation efforts told Reuters that Tehran’s responses can take two to three days, suggesting the absence of a single decisive command authority.

The diplomatic front remains active, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf involved in talks. But the report identifies IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi as a key wartime figure shaping Iran’s position on the ground.

For Tehran, the staged proposal appears designed to preserve leverage over the Strait of Hormuz while avoiding early nuclear concessions. For Washington, however, separating the war file from the nuclear file remains unacceptable.

The result is a tense diplomatic pause: Iran signals talks are possible, but only on its preferred sequence; the United States wants nuclear commitments first. With the Guards now central to decision-making, any deal may depend less on traditional clerical authority and more on what Iran’s wartime security leadership is willing to accept.

Source: Reuters report