Newsletters
Iran gains concessions "not through dialogue, but with missiles," parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated Friday. His remarks came as Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States remains unfinalized, dismissing Western media accounts of its contents as inaccurate.
Posting on X, Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian ceasefire delegation for the April talks with the United States in Islamabad, Pakistan, laid out three principles.
"We seize concessions not through dialogue, but with missiles. In negotiations, we only explain them," he wrote.
He added that Iran places no trust in "guarantees and words," stating that "only behavior is the criterion" and that "no action will be taken before the other party takes action."
His third point: "The winner of any agreement is the one who is better prepared for war from the day after."
Tasnim News Agency, citing an informed source, said the reported terms of the MoU circulating in Western media were inaccurate and that the text remained in flux.
"The text has not been finalized at this moment, and if it is finalized, it will be officially announced," the source told Tasnim, according to a translation of its Persian-language report.
"For this reason, the texts that Western media have published until now as part of the original text are inaccurate," the source said.
"The text of the possible MoU has undergone some changes over the past few days," the source added.
Tensions in the Middle East have escalated since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran in late February.
Tehran retaliated with attacks targeting Israel as well as U.S. allies in the Gulf, alongside the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but subsequent talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump later extended the truce indefinitely.
The two sides have since continued exchanging proposals and counterproposals in an effort to resume direct talks and end the conflict.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
