Iran and US Near Deal as Tehran Marks Anniversary of Bloody Conflict

Commemorations for the one-year anniversary of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025 are underway in Tehran, even as U.S. and Iranian officials engage in last-minute talks to end a more recent conflict between the two sides.

Tehran and Washington have signaled that a deal to turn a fragile 60-day ceasefire into a comprehensive peace and cooperation agreement is near.

But amid uncertainty over the outcome of the negotiations—particularly the possibility that Israel might sabotage them—Iranian cities are holding memorials for dozens of senior military commanders killed between June 13 and 24, 2025.

Some died in the 12-day war, which Israel called Operation Rising Lion, including Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces; Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); and Ali Akbar Hajizadeh, longtime head of the aerospace force.

State-installed messages and banners have hailed the commanders as eschatological figures and "companions of the end times" of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad—whose death more than 1,300 years ago became a core doctrine in Shia Islam, emphasizing "martyrdom" and resistance against injustice.

Universities will also hold state-run memorials for nuclear scientists and physicists assassinated during last year's war, such as Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi.

Government figures say more than 1,000 Iranians were killed in the 12-day U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign, including several hundred civilians and dozens of children. In Iran's current war with the U.S. and Israel, at least 3,468 people have died, nearly half of them civilians.

Among those killed on February 28, the first day of the latest war, was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Saturday, it was announced he would be buried at a Shia shrine in Mashhad after six days of mourning in the second week of July.

It has been a bloody and costly 12 months for Iran, but the government has framed it as a necessary struggle to prevent foreign domination.

Speaking on state television Friday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described how the country refused to give in to U.S. demands after the 12-day war—such as no uranium enrichment on Iranian soil—and said this firm approach to preserving national sovereignty should continue.

"Negotiations do not lead to war, resistance leads to war. Our enemies have demands they try to achieve in negotiations, we resist, they turn to war," Araghchi said.

But despite losses and damage, the government believes it is in a better position than last year. Iran has survived two wars against the U.S. and Israel, and effectively controlled the Strait of Hormuz—through which about one-fifth of the world's oil passed before the war—to disrupt global energy markets.

Iranian Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei said U.S. leaders still do not understand the ideology and perseverance of the clerics in Tehran, who are willing to sacrifice even more.

The Islamic month of Muharram begins June 16 and includes Ashura, commemorating Husayn's death and a key date on the Iranian calendar. Mohseni-Ejei said it was "the month of the victory of blood over the sword" and that Iran's armed forces were ready to continue fighting U.S. "evil."

IRGC Brigadier General Ali Fadavi appeared to agree, telling state television at a memorial event Thursday that Iran's military campaign against Israel last year "broke the illusory power of the enemy."

General Ali Abdollahi, commander of the IRGC's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, also declared that Iran had won recent confrontations. "By the grace of God, the world will soon hear the resounding victory of Iran and the Iranian people, and the triumph of resistance over the invading and terrorist enemy," the general wrote in a statement published Saturday.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday afternoon that an interim deal with U.S. President Donald Trump could be completed within 24 hours. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding was possible in the "coming days."

Members of the hardline Paydari faction have criticized the terms of the deal currently circulating in domestic and international media but not yet confirmed officially. Contentious points include whether Iran will receive funds frozen abroad, the status of the Strait of Hormuz, and the future of Iran's nuclear program.

Some Iranian hardliners compare the alleged leaks to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, signed under U.S. President Barack Obama, which curbed the nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief—which they consider a "pure loss" for Iran. They insist the government must push for stronger demands to craft a "victory" narrative as the war ends.

Mahmoud Nabavian, a senior cleric and lawmaker, warned Saturday that Iran was about to concede more than in previous talks and that the new deal looked "more harmful than the two previous versions."

A state television host pressed Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei in a phone interview Friday night, comparing the U.S. to a "snake" always ready to disrupt talks. "I think you are being too sensitive in your wording. The issue is whether we want results when we engage in the diplomatic path?" Baghaei responded.

Yet even the most conservative newspapers in Iran signal an interim deal is close, and some view the talks as a necessary evil to prevent further damage to the country. "Even if the probability of the talks' success is low, the cost of not trying may be greater than trying," the IRGC-affiliated Javan newspaper wrote Saturday.