ALWAGHT- Iranian Parliament Speaker and head of the country’s negotiating delegation Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran’s armed forces have achieved a decade’s worth of advances over the past 15 months, emphasizing that their performance improved with each successive round of the recent conflicts.
Ghalibaf said Iran’s armed forces have made major advances in rebuilding and strengthening their capabilities, benefiting from domestic technology and lessons learned from recent conflicts. He claimed Iran’s military performance has become more effective with each successive confrontation.
On the Strait of Hormuz, Ghalibaf asserted that Iran maintains control of the waterway and can respond to any hostile movements. He said Iran has not abandoned its leverage over the strait and will continue to prevent attempts by non-coastal states to challenge its authority there.
Ghalibaf also pointed to progress on the diplomatic front, particularly an agreement with Oman concerning management of the Strait of Hormuz. He argued that the arrangement is consistent with international law and establishes Iran and Oman as the relevant coastal states responsible for managing the waterway.
Turning to the economic situation, Ghalibaf warned that Iran faces a broader hybrid war combining military, economic and psychological pressure. He said the enemy’s objective is to create unrest and weaken Iran internally, urging officials and the public not to fall into what he described as the enemy’s strategy.
Ghalibaf warned that Iran would respond militarily if its oil exports were blocked through a naval blockade. Describing a blockade as a serious act of war, he said Iran would take necessary action and reiterated Tehran’s position that preventing Iran from exporting oil through the Persian Gulf would mean preventing others from doing so as well.
