Karaj Friday prayer leader says US remains Iran’s main enemy despite talks

Sari’s Friday prayer leader said officials should act according to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s original position on talks with the United States, seizing on Khamenei’s own caveat that he had held a different view before allowing the memorandum to be implemented.

Mohammad-Bagher Mohammadi Laeini told Friday prayers in Sari that Khamenei’s “principled view” had been different and said officials were expected to follow what he called the Leader’s main position.

Responding to US officials’ remarks about the memorandum with Tehran, Mohammadi Laeini said Washington still had not understood Iran.

“The Islamic Republic will not accept the disgrace of compromise with America,” he said, adding that Iranians had shown they were “not a nation of compromise.”

An Iranian lawmaker warned that reopening the Strait of Hormuz before a full ceasefire in Lebanon and an Israeli withdrawal would amount to the “premature birth” of the US memorandum’s implementation.

Meysam Zohourian wrote on X that any opening in the Strait of Hormuz before those conditions were met would signal Iran’s acceptance of implementing the memorandum with Washington.

The phrase sharpened criticism of the sequencing of the agreement, suggesting that movement on Hormuz could hand Washington an early win before Iran’s demands on Lebanon are met.

A member of parliament’s National Security Committee criticized Iran’s announced 60-day fee waiver for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, questioning why Israeli vessels should be allowed to transit without payment.

Mahmoud Nabavian wrote on X that, according to the Supreme National Security Council, Iran would not charge commercial ships crossing the strait during the 60-day period. He asked whether the decision reflected Iran’s own choice or had been made under US pressure.

Nabavian said allowing Israeli ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without payment contradicted Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s position on cutting off Israel’s economic arteries.

The spokesman for parliament’s National Security Committee criticized continued International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, saying they violated a law suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X that parliament would resist what he described as violations of the law and surrender.

“Parliament will stand against lawbreaking and capitulation,” he said.

Tehran’s interim Friday prayer leader said Iran’s support for Hezbollah last week carried several messages, including what he described as a display of unity across the so-called “Resistance Front.”

Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that what Iranian officials say about war is not rhetoric and is implemented in practice.

He described the United States and Israel as untrustworthy, saying they do not understand negotiation or ceasefires and only understand force.