Ghalibaf: “We will both fight and negotiate”, as Iran’s parliament speaker says Tehran must be ready for war despite talks with the US

Iran must be ready for war even as it negotiates with the United States, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a televised address on the evening of Wednesday, October 14. “To achieve this, we will both fight and negotiate,” he said, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The speech was delivered in Persian; the quotes below are translations by Iranian media. “This means that, when necessary, we must fight with all our strength, use every opportunity to raise our readiness and, whenever we achieve a military victory on the battlefield, turn it into a political victory as well,” Ghalibaf added.

“War, negotiations, deterrence”

According to Ghalibaf, Iran wants to replace the traditional cycle of “war, negotiations, peace” with a new equation: “war, negotiations, deterrence”. He argued that Iran’s improved firepower and air defence after the second round of attacks, between February 28 and April 7, had shown its effect. “From drones to F-35s, you saw what result this had,” he said. “This is what deterrence means: nobody should dare attack us.”

He listed Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, national unity, economic resilience and the capabilities of the “Axis of Resistance” among the elements of deterrence.

“The US must be punished”

Speaking about the proposal now on the table, as posted in English by the IRNA news agency, Ghalibaf said: “The American president made promises and then broke them. America must be punished and forced to change its behaviour, so that it understands it must accept the just demands of the Iranian nation.”

Asked whether a signed agreement with American commitments could prevent a new attack on Iran, he answered: “Undoubtedly not.”

Ghalibaf recalled that Tehran gave the memorandum of understanding it signed with the US in June a two-stage structure because it did not trust Washington. He claimed that Iran’s “strategic superiority on the battlefield” had forced the US to accept the understanding, and that it gave Iran opportunities and resources to strengthen its armed forces and Hezbollah.

Earlier warnings

In September Ghalibaf warned that any new attack would bring a “faster, heavier and more painful response”. In early October he said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen unless Tehran’s seven conditions are met, which we covered in our report on the seven conditions for Hormuz.