TEHRAN – Iran has vowed to continue fighting until its demands are met, while insisting it does not want an endless war or prolonged negotiations with the United States.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf said Tehran was seeking negotiations aimed at establishing lasting defensive deterrence. However, he stressed that Iran would continue its fight until its demands were accepted, according to remarks broadcast by state media.
In a separate social media statement, Ghalibaf said deadlines set by the US government, including those linked to its economic pressure campaign against Iran, had passed without bringing down the Islamic Republic.
He also sarcastically suggested that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent deserved a Nobel Prize in Physics, criticizing his predictions about the effects of American pressure on Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi said Iran had acquired more advanced weapons following the 40-day war. He described the prospect of fresh US attacks as unreasonable but warned that the possibility remained.
Mohebbi added that Iran was better prepared than before to respond to any renewed aggression. He also suggested that US President Donald Trump might seek a military success ahead of the midterm elections.
On the other side, Trump has again predicted that the war against Iran will end soon, even as attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz have reportedly increased.
Addressing a public gathering in Bullhead City, Arizona, Trump claimed that the United States had gained complete control of the strategic waterway. He also asserted that Iran had lost its navy, air force, radar systems and air defense capabilities.
Trump further claimed that successive levels of Iran’s leadership had been eliminated in the attacks. He indicated that the strikes had made negotiations with Tehran more complicated.
Acknowledging the conflict’s economic impact, Trump said fuel prices had risen because of the war but would fall once the fighting ended.