The head of Iran’s parliament said on Saturday that Tehran is ready for a military confrontation with the United States if proposed peace talks fall through.
The speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, told state-run media outlet PressTV that “it is not the case that we think just because we are negotiating, the armed forces are not ready,” adding that “just as the people are in the streets, our armed forces are also ready.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on social media Saturday that it would reassert control over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway in which about a fifth of the world’s oil travels. The United States has maintained a naval blockade of Iran’s ports since last week.
“It is announced that until the US ends its obstruction of the full freedom of movement of vessels from and to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain under strict control and in its previous state,” the IRGC wrote in a post on X.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump said U.S. negotiators will arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening in preparation for round two of talks with Iran. Iran did not immediately confirm the talks. Trump threatened to destroy energy and transport infrastructure in Iran if it doesn’t take the deal that Washington is offering.
It remains unclear whether either side has shifted its stance on unresolved issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies, and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran is due to expire by Wednesday. A 10-day ceasefire in Israel and Lebanon, announced by Trump last week, appears to be holding.
Ghalibaf, who is a top negotiator with the United States, also said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed in the meantime due to the U.S. blockade.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said, adding that if the blockade isn’t lifted, traffic will be restricted, according to state media.
Aside from Ghalibaf’s comment, a top Iranian general said that the country is rebuilding its stockpile of weapons and munitions during the ceasefire, according to semi-official Iranian media website Tasnim News.
“During the ceasefire period, our speed in updating and refilling missile and drone launch platforms is even greater than before the war,” said the IRGC general, Majid Mousavi, in comments carried by Tasnim.
Trump on Sunday accused Tehran of violating the terms of the ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a post he made on Truth Social.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” he wrote on Truth Social, adding that the targeted ship was French. “That wasn’t nice, was it?”
Washington, he added, is “offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
