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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has publicly stated that ending the war with the United States requires Washington to cease interference in Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities. IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said on 9 September that, for the conflict to end, the United States must completely stop the war and threats and “refrain from any interference in the country’s nuclear and missile capabilities”. Other demands included ending the Yemen blockade, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and releasing $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The timing is significant: the statement came the same day the IAEA Board formally referred Iran to the U.N. Security Council over nuclear non-compliance.
This is a potentially important development in the strategic relationship between Iran’s confidence in the current conflict and its nuclear policy. A senior component of the Iranian state is explicitly linking termination of hostilities to freedom from external constraints on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
That is substantially different from simply insisting on Iran’s general “right to peaceful nuclear energy”. If this position becomes the Iranian government’s negotiating requirement, it could mean Tehran is seeking an end-state in which U.S. military and political pressure can no longer constrain enrichment, centrifuges, facility reconstruction, or other nuclear activity.
There is, however, an important limitation: this is presently an IRGC position, not yet a confirmed formal negotiating proposal from the Iranian government or Supreme National Security Council. It should not yet be reported as Iran demanding unrestricted enrichment or rejecting IAEA safeguards; Mohebi did not specify what “interference” encompasses.