Iran MP says any US deal must be reviewed by lawmakers

An Iranian lawmaker said imports through the country’s southern ports are facing challenges because of the naval blockade.

Abbas Soufi, deputy chairman of parliament’s Construction Committee, said the entry of goods through southern ports had been affected by maritime restrictions.

His remarks point to growing economic pressure on Iran’s trade routes as the blockade and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain central to Tehran’s dispute with Washington.

Iran has approached at least two Persian Gulf Arab countries seeking arrangements similar to one reportedly discussed with the United Arab Emirates, under which Tehran would halt missile and drone attacks in exchange for economic and security understandings, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Reuters said the reported UAE-Iran arrangement would include a halt to Iranian attacks on the UAE and a rebuilding of bilateral ties, including intelligence sharing and economic cooperation.

The report said Iranian Revolutionary Guards officials visited Abu Dhabi last week to meet Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and deputy ruler of Abu Dhabi, and that UAE officials later traveled to Tehran to discuss details of the mechanism.

Reuters said the reported arrangement marked a tactical shift after weeks in which the UAE had been heavily targeted by Iran during the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic. Iran’s last known direct attack on the UAE was a May 4 strike on Fujairah port.

The head of Iran’s parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said a proposed bill on managing the Strait of Hormuz would cover transit rules and what he called the rights of the Iranian nation.

Ebrahim Azizi said the plan, formally described as a bill for the security, development and progress of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, would be a “complete and comprehensive” law if passed by parliament.

He compared the initiative to the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry, calling it a lasting measure.

Iran’s judiciary chief said Tehran’s confrontation with the United States and its allies would not end, using a message on the anniversary of the 12-day war to warn against trust in Washington.

“Our battle with the front of the wicked and arrogant has no end, except with the uprooting of oppression and arrogance,” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei wrote.

He added that the Islamic Republic has “absolutely no trust” in the United States, saying the mistrust was rooted in historical experience.

Ejei also called for national unity and said Iran’s armed forces remained central to what he described as the country’s deterrence after last year’s war.

Conservative Iranian daily Javan criticized hardliners who reject any negotiation with the United States, saying talks can be part of the same confrontation rather than a retreat from it.

The newspaper said some critics “do not accept any discussion or negotiation” and cannot understand that diplomacy can function like war or as its continuation.

It mocked those who argue Iran stopped fighting just as the enemy’s defenses were exhausted, saying they imagined Tehran had reached the moment of final victory and should not have halted the war.

Javan said many critics of the talks lack military knowledge and are wrongly comparing the current conflict with the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, which it noted also did not end without negotiation.

The paper said Trump and the United States remain hostile, but argued that opposing every diplomatic move because of Washington’s history is a weak argument.

“Negotiation does not mean compromise, losing guarantees or being deceived by a bullying and oath-breaking side,” Javan wrote, adding that governments can fight and negotiate at the same time.

The daily said Iranians should trust the leadership and negotiators to prevent political chaos, describing negotiation not as a tool to remove hostility but as a way to manage the enemy.

It warned that both blanket opposition to talks and claims that Iran has no choice but to accept a deal only benefit the enemy.