Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and U.S. commitments are implemented, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
اضافة اعلان
Ghalibaf said Iran must fight and negotiate simultaneously, adding that Tehran would use military force to deter its adversaries and diplomacy to consolidate gains made on the battlefield when the time is right.
Iran has said it conveyed seven conditions to the United States for starting negotiations, amid escalating Israeli pressure on Tehran and as military and diplomatic options remain intertwined over the future of the confrontation and Iran’s nuclear program.
On Saturday, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary-general of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran had informed mediators of its conditions for resuming talks aimed at ending the war with the United States.
Rezaei said the conditions include an end to the war on all fronts, the unfreezing of Iranian funds, and an end to the naval blockade. He added that consultations were continuing with Qatari and Pakistani mediators and that Tehran was awaiting a response from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rezaei said Trump’s assessments and calculations regarding Iran had been incorrect, arguing that the war had been prompted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It is in Washington’s interest to accept our conditions to exit the war. Trump’s threats will achieve nothing, and we are prepared for a decisive war,” Rezaei said.
He added that Iran knows the weaknesses of the U.S. military and said his country is better prepared than before to confront U.S. air attacks.
Source: Reuters
