Iran’s top officials are deeply skeptical of U.S. overtures toward a negotiated ceasefire, believing the offer may be a carefully laid trap designed to lure the regime’s last surviving leadership into an ambush, the Wall Street Journal reported.

At the center of Tehran’s fears is Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker, former paramilitary commander, and one of the few senior regime figures to have survived the wave of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. American officials have reportedly sought Ghalibaf’s participation in any face-to-face peace talks, a request that Iranian leaders interpret not as a diplomatic gesture, but as a potential setup for assassination.

The suspicion reflects just how severely the regime’s leadership ranks have been decimated. With so few senior figures left standing, Iranian officials appear unwilling to risk exposing any of them, even in a purportedly diplomatic setting.

Iranian skepticism extends beyond the ceasefire offer itself. Officials in Tehran also believe that President Trump’s announced pause on strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure is not a genuine de-escalatory move, but a calculated bid to stabilize oil prices before resuming the campaign. That assessment was echoed by Arab counterparts who communicate regularly with Iranian officials, according to the Journal.

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