Iran lawmaker claims US military power has been ‘deflated’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN that Tehran and Washington were still exchanging messages through Pakistani mediators, but accused the United States of making negotiations difficult with shifting demands.

“The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goal posts, different statements, contradictory remarks by different officials, so it makes the whole process very cumbersome,” Esmaeil Baghaei said.

He said Washington was not offering concessions over Iran’s blocked assets and accused the United States of attacking Iranian commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and on the high seas.

He called the situation “very volatile and very dangerous” and blamed what he described as the United States’ “reckless approach” towards the region and the ceasefire.

The spokesman warned that Iran’s armed forces were ready “to respond to any attacks with all force.”

Iran currently receives an average of $1.5 million to $2 million from each ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Mohsen Zanganeh, a member of parliament’s budget and planning committee, told IRGC-linked Fars News on Sunday.

The money is deposited into the treasury under the budget law and spent in designated areas, according to the report.

Some payments were not made in cash and were instead settled through US Tether, a dollar-linked cryptocurrency, or barter, the report said.

An Iranian lawmaker told protesting students on Sunday to stop their demonstrations and return to their studies, saying there was no other option.

“Our advice is that students should stop protesting and go study, because there is no other choice and protests are useless,” said Abdolvahid Fayyazi, a member of Iran parliament’s education and research committee.

High school students in about 20 Iranian provinces have been holding protests against education policies, final exam rules and changes affecting the national university entrance exam, with some gatherings met by violence and arrests.

Four armed militants were killed in a clash with security forces in Saravan in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, IRGC-linked Fars News reported on Sunday, citing an informed source.

The source claimed security forces also seized weapons and ammunition from the group.

Semi-official Mehr News reported later that a member of Iran’s security forces was also killed in the clash.

One hundred days after former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an attack on his office in Tehran, the Islamic Republic has yet to bury the man who led the country for more than three decades.

The delay has become one of the most unusual and politically sensitive aspects of Iran's post-war transition. While senior military commanders and officials killed in the same conflict have already been buried, repeated promises of a massive funeral for Khamenei have so far gone unfulfilled.

Tehran municipal officials spoke of plans for a multi-day funeral procession later this month. Ceremonies, they said, are expected to span several cities before Khamenei's final burial in the religious city of Mashhad.

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