Senior Iran lawmaker says armed forces adopted more aggressive doctrine

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Mohammad Darwish, chairman of the Hamas Shoura Council, that the Islamic Republic had “no peace” with the United States and described vengeance for slain former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as “the liberation of Jerusalem,” state media reported.

“We have no peace with the United States and will not recognize Israel,” Ghalibaf said.

“Vengeance for the martyred imam is the liberation of Jerusalem,” he added.

Ghalibaf said Iran would continue to help Muslims and the “resistance front” under the guidance of Iran’s new Supreme Leader, adding that the assistance would be “with missiles” if needed, and through negotiations if political pressure was required.

Ghalibaf said diplomacy and negotiations should be able to “resolve the military deadlock” and preserve the gains of fighters, adding that this could be achieved only if the country was prepared for defense alongside diplomacy.

He also said Muslim governments had realized that cooperation with the United States and Israel would not bring them security.

Darwish said what was achieved in the Iran-US memorandum of understanding was “a major victory for the resistance front,” adding that every clause of the memorandum was “a victory for Iran and a defeat for the United States.”

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Mohammadbagher Zolghadr said on Sunday that officials would continue the path of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and serve alongside his son.

“We promise to continue his path and thinking as we should, to preserve the dignity he brought to the nation, and to serve more fully alongside his son, our dear Leader, carrying the path forward as always,” he said.

He said Islamic Republic officials would try to carry forward the flag Khamenei had held for more than 40 years.

Oil and gas shipping along a US-protected corridor in the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of recovery on Sunday, with six freighters seen using a route close to Oman’s coast, Bloomberg reported.

The movement came a day after several vessels made unexplained U-turns and detours in the key energy passage, according to the report.

Many ships are known to transit with their transponders off, meaning observable traffic may not show the full picture, it said.

Western navies continued to assess the threat risk as “substantial,” while saying the center of the strait had been mined, the report added.

Israel’s military chief said on Sunday that Hezbollah had been weakened by Israeli operations in southern Lebanon and was relying on Iran for support.

Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said during a visit to the Beaufort Ridge that Hezbollah, which he described as funded and directed by Iran, had spent decades building underground tunnels in the area to threaten northern Israel.

He said Israeli troops controlled the ridge and its tunnel networks, and that the military would continue operations in Lebanon to remove threats.

Bandar Abbas International Airport in southern Iran resumed operations on Sunday after a four-month halt, with the arrival of its first passenger flight from Mashhad, Iranian state media reported.

The airport serves Bandar Abbas, a major port city on the Persian Gulf coast.

Flights linking Bandar Abbas to Tehran, Shiraz, Yazd and Mashhad will be gradually added to the airport’s schedule, the report said.