Days after Iran’s leadership projected a unified front, undermining the long-cited moderate-vs.-hardliner divide, President Donald Trump canceled planned talks with Tehran in Islamabad, Pakistan, citing “infighting and confusion” inside the regime.

Iranian American experts argue that social media posts from Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and other key officials reveal that the “good cop, bad cop” tactic that the regime exploited to deceive adversaries and secure generous concessions in nuclear negotiations has collapsed.

In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump announced he canceled the trip, citing “too much time wasted on traveling” and “too much work!”

“Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,’” the president added, noting “nobody knows who is in charge, including them.”

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“Also, we have all the cards, they have none!” Trump wrote. “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”

The implosion of the hardline-moderate dichotomy within the regime could have profound consequences for Trump’s approach to the atomic talks in Islamabad, experts said. Trump appeared to allude to a blurry divide between factions within Iran last week.

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), and it is CRAZY!” Trump wrote in an X post Thursday.

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei quickly fired back, claiming “due to the strange unity created among compatriots, a fracture has occurred in the enemy.”

“With practical gratitude for this blessing, cohesion has become even greater and more steel-like, and the enemies will become more wretched and diminished,” Khamenei wrote. “The enemy’s media operations, by targeting the minds and psyches of the people, intend to undermine national unity and security; may our negligence not allow this sinister intent to come to fruition.”

Mariam Memarsadeghi, a senior fellow at The Macdonald-Laurier Institute and founder and director of the Cyrus Forum for Iran’s Future, told Fox News Digital the Islamic Republic has, for decades, fooled Western policymakers by sending moderates to negotiations as a “window dressing for its terror and subjugation.”

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The officials would then tell their counterparts that they are under pressure from hardliners, implying that the West must make concessions to strengthen them internally.

“Because of the war, the Trump administration is in a remarkably advantageous situation vis-à-vis the imperial terror state, one never before attempted, much less achieved,” Memarsadeghi said. 

“But every time Trump says regime change has already happened, he denies America the opportunity to finally, truly be rid of the world’s top sponsor of terror and the existential threat it poses not just to the people of Iran but to all the world.”

Navid Mohebbi, who worked as a Persian media analyst for the State Department’s Public Affairs Bureau, cautioned that while rivalries and factions do exist within the Islamic Republic, they are united on the regime’s core principles.

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“Their disagreements are primarily over tactics, not fundamental direction,” Mohebbi told Fox News Digital, stressing that real decision-making power in Iran has always rested with the supreme leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“So-called moderates have never had the final say on key strategic issues and are often used to soften the regime’s image abroad,” he said. “From the perspective of the Iranian people, there has been little difference. Across administrations labeled ‘moderate’ or ‘hardline,’ the system has consistently relied on repression.”

Mohebbi cited the example of Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani, who presented himself as a moderate but whose security forces violently killed 1,500 protesters during the November 2019 uprising.

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“The same pattern has continued under Masoud Pezeshkian in the January 2026 protest massacre, reinforcing the reality that these labels have not translated into meaningful change on the ground,” he said.

A regional official, however, insisted there are clashes between moderates and hardliners in Iran. The official told Fox News Digital that Pezeshkian is a moderate, but he “could not even make good on his campaign promise regarding internet freedom. To be honest, he’s not even been able to do s—.

“The joint reaction by the heads of the three branches of power was in response to Trump’s reference to the issue of rift and also to the fact that there are indeed hardliners and moderates,” the official added. 

“Look, whenever Iran wants to make concessions, they throw moderates under the bus so that the moderates make a deal, and then, the hardliners blame them for the same concessions all of them had agreed to make.”

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Lawdan Bazargan, who was imprisoned by the Islamic Republic in the 1980s for her political dissident activities, told Fox News Digital that what officials are seeing now is not the disappearance of the divide, but the exposure of what that divide actually was.

“In reality, all of these figures — Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf [speaker of Iran’s parliament], Saeed Jalili [member of the Expediency Discernment Council], Pezeshkian, Ahmad Vahidi [head of the IRGC], Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei [head of Iran’s judiciary] — operate within the same ideological framework,” Bazargan said. 

“They are all committed to the preservation of the system, the projection of power in the region and confrontation with what they define as ‘the forces of evil,’ namely the United States and Israel.”

MEXICO CITY: The recent high-profile gathering of leftist leaders in Barcelona, convened by Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, is drawing increasing attention for what analysts describe as a broader geopolitical positioning that could challenge U.S. influence across Latin America and beyond.

The summit brought together Brazil president Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum. Framed as a platform for addressing inequality, climate change and the rise of right-wing political movements, yet the rhetoric coming from it has raised questions in Washington and across the region about whether a more coordinated political counterweight to the United States is taking shape.

Without naming the Trump administration, Sánchez warned of the “normalization of the use of force” and “attempts to undermine international law”, as criticism of U.S. foreign policy. He also pushed for reforms to global institutions, arguing that the current system no longer reflects today’s geopolitical realities, a position that implicitly challenges long-standing U.S. leadership in those bodies.

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“The Barcelona summit reflects a deliberate effort by Pedro Sánchez to position himself as a leading figure within an emerging progressive bloc that is increasingly critical of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump,” Juan Angel Soto, founder and CEO of Fortius Consulting told Fox News Digital.

“This positioning is particularly complex given Spain’s structural anchoring in both the European Union and NATO, which traditionally align it closely with Washington. However, Sánchez has simultaneously deepened ties with the Global South, evident in his growing proximity to China, as well as to leaders such as Lula, Sheinbaum, and Petro, suggesting a dual-track foreign policy that seeks greater autonomy from U.S. influence,” Soto said.

The Colombian leader tied global tensions directly to economic and energy systems, arguing that fossil fuel dependence has fueled conflict and inequality, an argument that aligns with broader criticism of Western-led economic models.

Roberto Salinas León, Director of International Affairs at Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City, told Fox News Digital: “The ill-named summit “In Defense of Democracy” held in Barcelona brought together notable “progressives” with an aim to bring together a global contingent opposed to, well, Trump 2.0. How convenient.”

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“Petro stated that ‘Latin American progressivism is a ray of hope for a humanity in crisis.’ Yet these would-be spokespersons for democracy have supported such inhumane brutal dictatorships like Cuba, Nicaragua, Maduro’s Venezuela, Iran, and others. This gathering is more aptly characterized as a political mascara of electoral autocracies, each leader undermining the institutional checks and balances of open liberal democracies,” he said.

Brazil’s Lula criticized what he described as interventionist policies by major powers and called for a rebalancing of global governance, including changes to the U.N. Security Council. At one point, he characterized recent U.S. leadership as contributing to global instability, reinforcing a central theme of the summit: that the current international order needs to be redefined.

“The new Cold War is being waged between China and the United States; it is this very rivalry that is at stake in every country participating in the summit. Lula’s concern regarding the resurgence of the right has become patently obvious, particularly when observing Argentina and Chile, where the victories of Milei and Kast have ushered in ‘winds of change.’ We are, quite literally, living through times reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall, specifically, the collapse of ‘21st-century socialism’ across Hispanic America, and this is precisely what has them so worried,” Brazilian political analyst Sandra Bronzina told Fox News Digital

“When the global progressive left rails against the United States, talking about sovereignty and peace, or speaking out against war, they are not doing so out of mere altruism or good intentions. Rather, they are driven by a shadowy self-interest: ensuring that China continues to colonize our nations, a process that is, evidently, already well underway.”

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Mexico’s Sheinbaum underscored the principle of national sovereignty, reiterating Latin America’s longstanding emphasis on non-intervention. She joined other leaders in opposing sanctions on countries such as Cuba, signaling a willingness to coordinate positions that diverge sharply from U.S. policy in the region.

Taken together, analysts say the messaging out of Barcelona suggests the early stages of a loosely aligned bloc, one that is increasingly willing to challenge U.S. positions on global governance, regional policy and economic strategy.

Yet even as leaders in Barcelona warn of a rising right-wing threat, political realities across the Americas tell a different story, one that may resonate more directly with U.S. audiences.

In Argentina, sweeping economic reforms focused on deregulation and fiscal discipline have captured global attention as an alternative to state-led models. In El Salvador, aggressive security policies have dramatically reduced violence. And in Ecuador, a renewed focus on law-and-order and institutional control is emerging as a response to escalating cartel violence.

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Analysts say these examples highlight a counter to the Barcelona narrative in that a significant portion of the region is moving toward policies centered on security, market reforms and stronger state authority — priorities that often align more closely with U.S. strategic interests.

Experts say the contrast is striking. On one side, a group of leaders in Barcelona is calling for a rethinking of global systems long associated with U.S. leadership. On the other, governments across the hemisphere are experimenting with approaches that emphasize economic liberalization and strong security measures.