Iran parliament media chief says talks and battlefield share same command center

Qom Friday prayer leader Mohammad Saeedi said Iranian officials would not accept what he called illegal US demands if Washington pursued excessive demands under the memorandum with Iran.

Speaking in Friday prayers in Qom, Saeedi said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s message had emphasized protecting the country’s rights and the so-called “Resistance Front,” adding that this would now shape public expectations and judgment of the agreement.

Saeedi said Iranians, despite their experience of what he described as US bad faith, were emphasizing unity out of respect for Khamenei’s position and hoped the other side would uphold its commitments.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that Iran had informed the group that talks with the United States could not continue without a comprehensive ceasefire, tying the US-Iran diplomatic track to the fighting in Lebanon.

Fadlallah said Lebanon’s government should reject direct negotiations with Israel as long as Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue.

Iran will waive planned fees for ships using the Strait of Hormuz during the 60-day negotiation period under its memorandum with the United States, according to Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

The authority said ships seeking passage while the interim agreement is in force must submit transit requests at least 48 hours before arrival.

Iran said it would suspend fees for security, safety, environmental services and related insurance during the period, while requiring vessels to coordinate routes and transit times in advance because of areas affected by mines and the need to ensure safe navigation.

A message attributed to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the swift reactions from President Masoud Pezeshkian and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf highlighted the uneasy coalition behind the agreement with the United States and the lingering doubts about it.

The intervention comes after weeks of criticism from hardline media outlets, clerics and political factions that viewed the agreement as a dangerous concession to Washington.

While the ultraconservative Paydari Party is often portrayed as the main opponent of rapprochement with the United States, recent debate in Iran has highlighted a broader network of political, media and ideological actors resisting a Tehran-Washington understanding.

In a message issued after the signing of the memorandum, Mojtaba Khamenei warned that actions creating “pessimism among the people” effectively serve the enemy, language widely interpreted as a rebuke to hardline critics of the agreement.

Both Pezeshkian and Ghalibaf quickly issued statements pledging to follow the leader's guidance and defend the negotiating process.

The apparent effort to impose discipline on the debate has coincided with growing scrutiny of those opposing diplomacy.

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A hardline religious speaker seized on Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s caveat about the US memorandum to call for a "movement to return to the Leader’s position," sharpening pressure on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government even as some critics have softened their tone after the message.

Esmail Ramezani said Khamenei’s statement that he had approved the memorandum despite holding a different view should become a rallying point for those who oppose the path now set for talks with Washington.

“Now that the Supreme Leader has announced that his view was something else, the people must demand the launch of a movement to return to the Leader’s position,” Ramezani said.

He urged supporters who had taken part in street rallies during the war to gather again and demand that the country follow Khamenei’s stated view rather than the memorandum’s announced path.

Ramezani also called for the 60-day negotiation track to be undermined if a memorandum had already been signed, saying officials should not proceed along the announced path.

“If a memorandum has been signed, somehow back out of those 60 days of negotiations and do not go down the path that has been announced,” he said.

His comments point to a harder line than many official reactions after Khamenei’s Thursday message. The IRGC, for example, backed officials pursuing the memorandum while warning of military retaliation if the United States broke the deal.

Khamenei’s message gave conditional cover to the memorandum while distancing himself from its consequences, saying he had authorized it after Pezeshkian and the Supreme National Security Council accepted responsibility for protecting Iran’s rights and those of the regional allied militant groups.