Factional divisions and opposition to talks with the United States exist within the Iranian hierarchy, but such splits will not suffice on their own to derail the negotiating process, analysts say. After five weeks of war paused by an April ceasefire and ended by an accord this month, US Vice President JD Vance and Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf held talks in Switzerland mediated by Qatar and Pakistan to begin a process in search of a final agreement.Yet the path remains tortuous, with Iran aware of the leverage it can exert over the global economy through control of the Strait of Hormuz and President Donald Trump threatening new military action if talks fail.And while Trump faces criticism of the deal from some conservatives at home, there have also been rumblings of discontent in Tehran over the talks with the US, a foe since the 1979 Islamic revolution known as the "Great Satan"."There are certainly factions seriously opposed to the talks and to any compromises with the US," said Yale University lecturer Arash Azizi."But it is my assessment that they currently lack the institutional power necessary to block the talks or even do much to shape their outcome," he told AFP. - 'Favourable consensus' -In a small, but unusual demonstration, dozens of people on June 13 protested against the talks outside Iranian foreign ministry offices in the northeastern city of Mashhad, shouting slogans against Ghalibaf and fellow negotiator Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei -- still unseen in public since his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an Israeli air strike on the first day of the war -- said he had approved the deal and awaited "face-to-face" talks despite having a "different view".Ghalibaf noted on X that a state television presenter said he wished Tehran airport had been closed so the negotiators could not leave for Switzerland. "More blood would have been shed" in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Tehran-backed Hezbollah, if the team had not gone, Ghalibaf countered.There have also been reports of dissent from a handful of officials, most prominently the ultra-conservative former top nuclear negotiator and national security council chief Saeed Jalili.