Iran Will Fight and Negotiate at the Same Time, Parliament Speaker Says

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, has said Tehran's chosen course is to pursue fighting and negotiation at the same time, rejecting the idea that the two are mutually exclusive.

In an address to Parliament, Qalibaf said the country must fight rationally and from a position of strength, while negotiating with authority and rationality when the moment is right. He argued that the choice between war and talks is not a real one.

He said that when necessary, Iran must bring all the military power at its disposal to bear in order to push the enemy back and inflict devastating blows.

Once a significant victory has been achieved on the battlefield and the enemy is in a position of weakness, he said, diplomacy should be used to lock in those gains. That approach, he added, would allow Iran to impose defeat on the enemy while strengthening its own elements of power, bringing it to a state of deterrence.

Qalibaf described Iran's positions in the diplomatic arena as clear, rational and non-negotiable. He said the country's messages and conditions have been conveyed explicitly to the other side through mediators, and that the enemy is fully aware that the path of deception and one-sided imposition is closed.

He further stated that until those conditions are fulfilled, the legitimate rights of the Iranian people are recognised, and the Americans carry out their commitments, there will be no opening for a return to the previous conditions of negotiations or for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Qalibaf also said Iran's conditions for ending the war have been passed to the United States through intermediaries.