Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for presenting threats against Iran and calls for negotiations together in the same statements. Ghalibaf described this approach as “failed theater diplomacy.”
In a post on his X account on Thursday, Ghalibaf said Trump had repeatedly stated that the United States would launch large-scale attacks against Iran, and then said that Iranian officials wanted negotiations.
The Iranian official argued that bullying, backtracking on commitments and using fake news as a tool of pressure constituted a failed strategy. Ghalibaf called on Washington to accept the facts and honor its commitments.
Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz
In an interview with Fox News on August 5, Trump said the United States was planning large-scale attacks against Iran. Trump also said the negotiations process had resumed after Iranian officials requested talks.
Iran and the United States reached an understanding on June 14 through Pakistan’s mediation. Under the first phase, the Strait of Hormuz was to be reopened and Tehran was to refrain from charging ships passing through the strait for 60 days in exchange for the release of Iran’s frozen assets.
Tehran viewed the United States’ failure to release Iran’s frozen assets after the agreement was signed and its designation of an alternative route for ships to pass through Omani territorial waters as a violation of the agreement.
Iran later restricted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted several ships that it said were attempting to pass through without authorization.
Safe corridor arrangement for ships
Despite the understanding, tensions between Iran and the United States turned into military clashes on July 8. After nearly two weeks of clashes, Iran resumed talks with Oman to establish safe corridors for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced on Wednesday that Iran and Oman had reached an agreement on the geographical coordinates of the safe maritime corridor to be used by commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
