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TEHRAN – Iran had been “victorious in the field” during weeks of war and had only agreed to a temporary truce with the United States because its demands had been met, the Iranian parliamentary speaker said on April 18.
The two-week ceasefire is set to end on April 22 unless it is renewed, with a permanent deal that mediators including Pakistan are pushing to get over the line still not finalised and progress on key sticking points uncertain.
“We were victorious in the field,” Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a national televised address, adding the United States had not achieved its goals and Iran controlled the strategic Strait of Hormuz maritime transit route.
“If we accepted the ceasefire, it was because they accepted our demands,” he said, referring to the United States.
“The enemy’s every effort was to impose its demands on us and it is important that we register our rights, so this is where negotiation is a method of struggle.”
He said progress had been made in negotiations with the US to end the war, but added the sides were still far from an agreement.
“We are still far from the final discussion,” he said, adding “we made progress in the negotiations, but there are many gaps and some fundamental points remain”.
Mr Ghalibaf and his delegation held closed door talks in Islamabad with US Vice-President J.D. Vance on April 11, in the highest level Iran-US contacts since before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The talks did not result in a final deal and officials have signalled mediations are continuing, though Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on April 18 no date had been set for a new round of talks. AFP