Ghalibaf says Iran will not remain in a state of neither war nor peace

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the country will not remain in a state of "neither war nor peace," speaking at an open session of the parliament, according to Mehr News. He said Tehran does not care whether the United States chooses the path of negotiations or war, and that if Washington accepts seven conditions set by Iran, the door to an agreement will be open. Ghalibaf added that if the US makes another mistake, Iran's armed forces will determine the geography of the battlefield.

During the session, Ghalibaf congratulated the National Day of Aerospace, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Major General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, described as the father of the Iranian missile program, to the commanders of the country's aerospace industry. He pointed to the achievements and capabilities of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying it had turned "impossible" into "possible" and threats into opportunities. He said the force had frustrated plots he attributed to the Zionist regime and the US government against Iran, and said this had given hope and dignity to the people of Iran, freedom-seeking nations of the region and the world, and particularly to the oppressed children of Palestine.

Ghalibaf also referred to remarks by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, saying the "absurd statements and immoral language" of the treasury secretary revealed what he called profound desperation in the face of the Islamic Republic's authority on the international stage. He said someone who has fled their own home for military bunkers out of fear of looming threats would do better to reflect on their strategic failures in the Persian Gulf rather than insulting what he called great and heroic nations. The parliament speaker reiterated that the US treasury secretary's rhetoric reflected deep desperation over Iran's power.

The remarks come amid continuing tensions between Tehran and Washington. Ghalibaf's comments set out Iran's position that it is prepared for either negotiations or confrontation, while placing conditions on any agreement. The report by Mehr News did not provide further details on the seven conditions or on the specific remarks by the US treasury secretary that Ghalibaf was responding to.