ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that Tehran will not remain in a “no war no peace” limbo as the third US aircraft carrier approaches Middle Eastern Waters.
“We do not care whether the US wants negotiations or war,” said Ghalibaf during a parliamentary session in Tehran on Sunday, as quoted by Fars News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“If Washington accepts our seven logical conditions, the path to an agreement will be open,” Ghalibaf further noted.
In the main, Tehran wants the US to cease hostilities on Iran and its allies, lift the naval blockade on Iranian ports, and ease economic restrictions and sanctions on Iranian assets.
Ghalibaf’s comments come as the US military potentially prepares for further hostilities.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt air-craft carrier strike group is expected to reach the Middle East in the coming days, following its departure from Singapore last week, according to The Maritime Executive, a maritime news outlet.
Washington has maintained its economic pressure on Iran, however the status of negotiations with Tehran remain unknown.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that they no longer needed an agreement with Iran, writing on his Truth Social platform, “We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed.”
CENTCOM said on Wednesday that US forces were continuing to enforce a naval blockade against Iran while keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping.
The Command also said it was working to prevent the IRGC from moving weapons and sanctioned materials through land routes and the Caspian Sea in a recent operation code named ‘Iron Gate’.
In turn Tehran has put on a recent display of military strength, unveiling a new underground “missile city” on Tuesday.
Ghalibaf on Sunday described the site as an achievement built during the war and under enemy fire, saying it went beyond a mere technical and defensive accomplishment but was “a symbol of a shift in the region's strategic balance.”
Tehran and Washington have exchanged strikes in November several times, the latest being IRGC claiming on Sunday that it launched six drones against a US military radar installation in Bahrain, prompting the kingdom to issue a security alert.
Ghalibaf’s statements on Sunday echo those of Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein from earlier in the week during an interview with France 24. Hussein similarly described the region as being in a “no peace no war situation.”
Citing economic pressures at the detriment of Iraqis, he also that continuance of the stalemate was not possible.
“This cannot continue; either it goes towards peace or it goes towards war.”
