As the United States stepped up strikes against the Islamic Republic for a fifth straight day, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday signalled that the door to diplomacy may still be open.
But, as tit-for-tat American and Iranian strikes continued into the early hours of Thursday, there appeared to be no immediate breakthrough between the two sides.
As Qatar has served as a mediator between the United States and Iran, there has been speculation that the visit could include meetings aimed at defusing tensions.
The United States on Wednesday launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran.
Those attacks prompted multiple waves of American strikes, drawing both sides into a cycle of escalation that unravelled the interim peace deal they had agreed to last month.
As the United States stepped up strikes against the Islamic Republic for a fifth straight day, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday signalled that the door to diplomacy may still be open.
In a statement carried by state media, Ghalibaf said that “we must also use the tools of diplomacy and negotiations to achieve and realise our national interests,” and added that “negotiations at this stage do not amount to capitulation”.
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Ghalibaf further said that Iran must strike a balance between its military response to American actions and efforts to resolve the conflict through talks.
“We must create coordination between the military and diplomatic tracks, and we must fear neither war nor negotiations. War and negotiations are two methods of protecting the national interest,” said Ghalibaf.
With the statement, Ghalibaf appeared to be performing a balancing act, conveying the regime’s resolve to a domestic audience while also extending an olive branch to the United States for talks. Whether the remarks lead to dialogue remains to be seen. But, as tit-for-tat American and Iranian strikes continued into the early hours of Thursday, there appeared to be no immediate breakthrough between the two sides.
Ghalibaf’s statement comes as Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Qatar to attend the funeral of the emirate’s former ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who died last week. As Qatar has served as a mediator between the United States and Iran, there has been speculation that the visit could include meetings aimed at defusing tensions. Neither side has confirmed any such meeting.
The United States on Wednesday launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran. The Central Command said it targeted capabilities used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported that one of the strikes targeted a barracks belonging to Iran’s 388th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armoured vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.
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Ghalibaf invokes Supreme Leader to defend talks with US
Ghalibaf acknowledged divisions within Iran and said that he had himself been a target of hardliners for leading negotiations. However, he defended his role, saying he did so for the “advancement of Iran” and under the guidance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
As Firstpost's Madhur Sharma previously noted, Iran remains deeply divided between pragmatists led by President Massoud Pezeshkian, Ghalibaf, and Araghchi, and ultrahardliners from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the clergy.
While Mojtaba has backed talks with the United States and, for now, given his support to the pragmatists, ultrahardliners have actively sought to undermine negotiations.
The clearest examples are the IRGC’s continuing attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf for allegedly failing to follow designated routes. Those attacks prompted multiple waves of American strikes, drawing both sides into a cycle of escalation that unravelled the interim peace deal they had agreed to last month.
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