Iranian officials have blamed the United States for the impasse in talks and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and have stressed that Tehran will not bow to “bullying” by Washington.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that there cannot be a complete ceasefire between the two countries if the US naval blockade of Iranian ports continues.
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In his first remarks since President Donald Trump announced plans to extend the US-Iran ceasefire, Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s key negotiators, suggested that Tehran would not bow to Washington’s demands because of the siege.
Ghalibaf wrote on
“It is impossible to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with such a massive violation of the ceasefire,” he said, adding that the US and Israel “did not achieve their goals through military aggression, nor will they achieve them through bullying”.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian reiterated that position, stressing that diplomacy, not pressure, is necessary for peace talks.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has welcomed the dialogue and agreement and continues to do so,” he said in a social media post, addressing the US and Israel.
“Breach of commitments, blockade and threats are the main obstacles to real negotiations. The world sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and contradiction between claims and actions.”
Although both countries have said they are ready to return to fighting, the ceasefire so far remains in place on Wednesday, the day its initial two-week period expired.
ceasefire extension
The ceasefire was extended only a day after it became clear that Iranian officials would not attend talks being held in Pakistan in protest against the US blockade.
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeed Iravani, said breaking the siege is a necessary condition for talks to move forward.
Asked whether the ceasefire would continue with relative peace, Iravani told reporters, “We have not launched military aggression. They have launched a war against us, and we are ready. If they want to sit at the table and discuss and find a political solution, they will find us ready.”
Trump did not set a deadline for the extended ceasefire to end, but he suggested on Tuesday that the naval blockade of Iran would continue to serve as leverage for future negotiations.
“People contacted me four days ago and said, ‘Sir, Iran wants to open the strait immediately.’ But if we do, there can never be a deal with Iran unless we blow up the rest of their country, including their leader,” the US president wrote in a social media post.
Hours before the ceasefire extension on Tuesday, Trump had said he opposed prolonging the ceasefire, and he warned Iran that time was running out before the US launched a major attack on its infrastructure.
Subsequently, he agreed to stop the attacks at the request of Pakistani mediators.
‘No war, no peace’
The blockade is still in place and with no new date set for talks, there are concerns that fighting could resume at any time.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem said Iran was experiencing “a state of neither war, nor peace”.
Hashem said, “The restrictions are still in place. The blockade is there. No one can plan for next week or the week after that. Businesses are just waiting to see how this war will end.”
The US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, killing hundreds of civilians and several top officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks against Israeli and US assets across the region. Iran also closed the Strait of Hormuz, causing oil prices to rise.
Iran agreed to reopen the waterway as part of a two-week ceasefire that took effect on April 8, but ultimately kept the waterway closed in response to Israel’s refusal to include Lebanon in the ceasefire.
This was originally a condition stipulated in the deal announced by Pakistan.
After announcing a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon last week, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen, but it closed the waterway again after Trump said the US naval blockade against the country would continue.
The US military has seized an Iranian ship during the siege.
For its part, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday detained two foreign commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, saying they violated maritime rules.
Trump’s claim, execution stopped in Iran
Despite rising tensions, Trump said Wednesday he “appreciated” that Iran halted executions of female dissidents at his request.
A day earlier, the US President had shared photographs of eight alleged detainees in Iran and claimed that they were certain to be killed.
“I have just been informed that the eight female protesters who were scheduled to be executed tonight in Iran will not be executed. Four will be released immediately and four will be sentenced to one month in jail,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform on Wednesday.
“I greatly appreciate that as President of the United States, Iran and its leaders honored my request and ended the planned execution.”
Later in the day, the White House rejected US media reports that Iran still possessed significant military capabilities.
“Iran’s defense industrial base was almost completely destroyed,” White House spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt wrote on the social media platform X.
“Iran’s ability to produce and stockpile ballistic missiles and long-range drones goes back years. Most of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launcher vehicles and long-range attack drones were destroyed.”
Iran was capable of launching missile attacks against Israel on a daily basis throughout the war.
