Senior Iranian officials issued sharp warnings and rebuttals aimed at U.S. President Donald Trump after he rejected a peace proposal that would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz within seven days.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker who heads Iran's armistice negotiating team, said in remarks before an open session of parliament on the 29th that "if there is any region where we cannot sell oil, then no one will be able to sell oil." He added, "And if our security is not guaranteed, no infrastructure will be safe." Addressing the U.S. leadership, he said that if Iran faces threats or adventurism of any kind, Tehran would respond swiftly and make the perpetrators deeply regret it.
The remarks were seen as a response to Trump's recent comments on passage through the Strait of Hormuz. On the 26th, Trump said he had turned down the peace proposal Iran had put forward, saying Iran was losing so badly that it wanted a deal to reopen the strait immediately. He said he also liked a deal but could not accept that particular proposal.
Iran had earlier presented Washington with a set of demands: lifting the naval blockade against Iran, releasing frozen funds, granting exemptions from oil sanctions, and halting hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon. Under Iran's proposal, it would open the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States met those conditions.
Ghalibaf characterized Trump's recent comments as frivolous behavior and bluntly challenged Washington to take the confrontation as far as it wanted.
The Wall Street Journal and other outlets, citing U.S. officials, reported that Trump is skeptical of Iran's peace proposal and is keeping open the possibility of resuming strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections in November. Apparently mindful of that, Ghalibaf referred to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's recent address to the U.N. General Assembly and said, "Iran does not want war, but it will not retreat an inch in defending its national security and rights." He also expressed confidence that U.S. pressure, including the naval blockade and the closure of air and trade routes, would ultimately fail as it had in the past, thanks to rigorous economic management and military responses.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, one of Iran's most hardline forces, also denounced Trump at a press conference on the same day titled "A Letter From the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to the American People." IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi took aim at the United States for spending astronomical sums on defense and operating military bases around the world despite facing no serious security threat, and argued that claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons are a clear lie.
"If simple propaganda had been the goal, we would have posted a few tweets or staged a one-off media event for superficial effect," Mohebbi said. "But we decided to communicate with the American people in a sincere, logical and realistic manner." He added, "If anyone still has doubts after this press conference, we are ready to invite them here and show them everything about Iran, including the Strait of Hormuz." He called Trump, who has claimed Iran may be developing nuclear weapons, a "big liar."
