Missiles and negotiations: Iran 100 days into the war with US and Israel

Reality Check
By Editor_1
Portraits in Tehran of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and assassinated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -Vahid Salemi/AP/File

By Maziar Motamedi

TEHRAN – Iranian authorities remain defiant 100 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel as no lasting resolution appears in sight, and civilians bear the brunt of a conflict that has roiled global markets.

On the streets of the capital, Tehran, most shops are open, although not with as many customers as before. Traffic has been restored, but only partially, since millions of jobs have either been suspended or eliminated after nationwide protests, aerial bombardment and two state-imposed internet shutdowns over the past several months.

Armoured vehicles, heavy weaponry and security forces continue to be common sights in the metropolis of about 10 million people at all hours of the day.

At night, armed forces are setting up numerous checkpoints across the city, escorting motorcades of state supporters blasting religious slogans. Main squares and many streets are typically closed so that people can gather, often heard chanting slogans against the US and Israel.

Pro-government messaging and flags of the Lebanese group Hezbollah and other members of the Tehran-backed ‘axis of resistance’ are widely featured in banners and billboards across Iran.

Some vehicles and city murals bear images of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected as supreme leader by a clerical body after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.

Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded in the same US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members, has not been seen or heard from publicly since taking the helm, except for written messages attributed to him.

The authorities have yet to hold funeral processions for Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly 37 years. His family members were buried a week ago, and other top commanders and officials killed on February 28 were also buried months later.

Concerns about assassination and intelligence leaks remain high, keeping the parliament closed, except for a handful of limited or online sessions. Universities and schools have also remained shut, and many deferred exams are expected to be held online. A number of police forces are working from desks set up in the streets after their stations were bombed.

But the institutions of the Islamic Republic survived and remain in power, as do many officials, including leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who have continued to heavily disrupt the flow of energy and goods through the Strait of Hormuz while fighting off the US blockade of Iran’s ports.

After roughly 40 days of intense war and thousands of strikes, followed by months of tense ‘ceasefire’ that has now included overnight exchanges of fire for more than a week, an interim deal to reopen the strategic waterway has not materialized. Any longer-term peace deal seems further out of reach.

‘Missiles, not negotiations’

On Sunday (7), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran hosted Pakistan’s interior minister, the mediating country which itself was hosting an envoy from Lebanon, in an attempt to bridge gaps over Hezbollah and other issues with the US.

In an editorial on Sunday marking the 100-day milestone, the hardline Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Ali Khamenei, said the experience has taught the system that “America retreated because of missiles, not negotiations”.

“Disrupt [Donald] Trump’s game by halting negotiations and closing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” Keyhan wrote about the strategic waterway off the coast of Yemen, arguing that the US president is using the talks to keep global oil prices under control.

Armed forces have demonstrated that despite the widescale bombing of Iran’s military installations, including facilities dug deep into mountains, they retain the ability to fire ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a variety of drones. They have also continued to shoot down a number of US drones, even though numerous air defence batteries were destroyed during the war.

Most Iranian military aircraft and large vessels have also been destroyed, but the IRGC continues to deploy its fast boats and small vessels to advance objectives in the strait.

Iranian authorities say they wish to entrench control over the strait and monetize passage, keep highly enriched uranium – now likely buried under the rubble of bombed facilities – inside the country to prevent future attacks, and secure relief from decades of sanctions and asset freezes that have battered the economy.

Years-long economic woes have only worsened after oil and gas facilities, major steel and aluminium producers and industrial units were extensively bombed across the country. Trump has threatened more attacks against power plants and other civilian infrastructure if the war resumes. Many homes, hospitals, schools, offices and universities are in ruins or suffered damage.

Inflation was running unchecked at nearly 84% year-on-year during the second month of the Persian calendar year that ended on May 21, according to the Statistical Centre of Iran. Food inflation was at 130% for the same period, with solid vegetable oil up 431%, eggs 342%, chicken 287%and imported rice by 222% compared to the same month of the previous year.

Iran’s national currency, the rial, is also in the doldrums. On Sunday, it traded at about 1.77 million per US dollar in Tehran’s open market – near an all-time low.

The stock market has been rising after a controlled reopening last month, which experts told Al Jazeera was predominantly due to inflation, and the side effects of returning after nearly three months of total shutdown. After deals were concluded for Sunday in the Tehran Stock Exchange, the main index was on the verge of retaking the all-time high threshold of 4.5 million points first reached at the start of 2026.

The internet has been partially restored after the longest nationwide shutdown in any country, but remains heavily throttled by the authorities, who clamp down on Starlink or other connections that circumnavigate their filtering.

The judiciary continues to announce near-daily executions of dissidents, including people arrested during the current war, during the nationwide protests in January and the 12-day war with Israel and the US almost a year ago. Tens of thousands have been arrested over recent months, and many will face intensified punishments based on a law approved after last year’s war to punish charges of spying and working for hostile governments.

-aljazeera.com

Editor_1
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