“The enemy, openly, sends messages of negotiation and dialogue, but secretly is planning a ground attack,” Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to state media outlet IRNA and state-affiliated Tasnim.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has reinforced its military strength in the region. The USS Tripoli arrived in the Middle East on Saturday as part of a complement of 3,500 troops, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Iran has not responded to a 15-point peace proposal intended to end the war sent by U.S. negotiators, but said that there was a “willingness to talk about certain things” from the Iranian side.
But Ghalibaf, a hard-liner who is one of Iran’s few surviving major political figures, accused the U.S. of “pursuing through diplomacy what it failed to achieve in war,” citing the 15-point list.
“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, the response of your sons to these wishes is clear. We will never accept humiliation,” he said, addressing everyday Iranians.
