Waltz says US will continue to respond if Iran threatens Hormuz shipping

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri on Sunday, said ending the war in Lebanon and preserving its sovereignty and territorial integrity were a key part of the first clause of the memorandum of understanding between the Islamic Republic and the United States.

“Our goal is to end the war, end the occupation and secure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory,” Ghalibaf said.

He added that after talks in Switzerland, it was agreed that a “conflict control unit” would be formed with the participation of the Islamic Republic, the United States and Lebanon to follow up on the implementation of the Lebanon clause.

The secretariat of Iran’s Assembly of Experts said on Sunday that a statement by some members on negotiations with the United States should have been issued through the clerical body’s usual channels.

The secretariat said the members should have preserved the Assembly’s unity and allowed more discussion before publication.

It said members who did not sign the statement did not oppose its substance, but either objected to the method or had not been informed.

The statement followed an earlier text by some Assembly members warning negotiators to follow Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s red lines and keep Iran’s nuclear program outside the talks.

Iran’s judiciary spokesperson said on Sunday that threatening anyone is a crime and the judiciary will follow up on a threat made against President Masoud Pezeshkian by a religious singer.

Asghar Jahangir said any person who makes a threat has committed a crime, without naming the singer or giving details on possible charges.

Earlier, a state-linked religious singer in Shahr-e Rey threatened Pezeshkian with death if the conditions set by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei over the US memorandum were not fulfilled.

“Mr. President, if the Leader’s conditions are not fulfilled, then it will be us, the blade and your throat,” the religious singer said.

Iran has no choice but to obtain a nuclear bomb to remove the military option against the country during the transition to a new world order, IRGC-affiliated Fars News wrote in a commentary on Sunday.

The outlet argued that Iran must achieve nuclear deterrence to gain what it called the “calm needed” to ensure other disputes can be resolved through negotiations.

Fars wrote that only under such conditions would negotiations be possible from the “right position.”

It also argued that nuclear deterrence could create a balance of power between Iran, the United States and Israel and keep the scope of any possible conflict under control.

The United States is responsible for “forcing” Israel to stop its attacks on Lebanon and withdraw from the country, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday.

Esmaeil Baghaei called such a measure “a necessary condition for reaching a final and lasting agreement to establish stability in the region.”

He added that ending Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and withdrawing its forces from the country are among the main conditions of Iran’s memorandum of understanding with the US.

The spokesperson said Iran “wants a timetable to be set as soon as possible for an unconditional withdrawal from the occupied areas of Lebanon.”