ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran's chief negotiator said Friday that the conflict with Washington will never end with Tehran’s surrender, amid escalating tensions following US president Donald Trump's announcement of an end to the ceasefire.
“Ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world, but everyone must know that this conflict will never end with Iran's surrender,” Iranian Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, adding “we have never abandoned our readiness to defend our country, and should the Americans betray the agreement at any moment, we are prepared for a full-scale defense.”
The remarks come as Iran and the United States have been locked in an escalation marked by intermittent exchanges since Tuesday. Following Iran’s attack on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) struck upwards of 170 targets in southern Iran on Wednesday and Thursday. In response Iran targeted alleged US assets in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.
“We distrust the Americans; during the negotiations, I made it clear to the US Vice President that we have no trust in them” Ghalibaf said, noting that “they have tasted Iran's power and military readiness, and they know that we will not let America off the hook.”
Earlier on Friday Trump posted on Truth social platform that “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”
“Following Iran’s resumption of attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned an Iranian financial facilitator who has effectively institutionalized large‑scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime,” stated the Treasury Department on Friday, in addition to targeting key Iranian exchange houses that move billions of dollars annually on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks.
The tit-for-tat escalations mark another sharp increase in tensions despite a ceasefire framework reached under the Islamabad Memorandum in mid-June, which called for a halt in military operations and negotiations toward a permanent truce for the war that began in late February.
