Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Wednesday that Tehran did not seek war but must remain prepared to fight to the end while also using diplomacy and negotiations to secure its national interests, APA reports citing Iran International.
“We have never welcomed war and do not, but we must always be ready to fight and stand to the end to safeguard our national security and interests,” Ghalibaf said in a statement.
He said Iran was in what he described as an “essential and existential war” with the United States, accusing Washington of seeking both to topple the Islamic Republic and fragment Iran.
Ghalibaf said Iran’s approach to war or negotiations should be realistic, long-term and based on national security and interests, adding that Tehran had no choice but to rely on its own strength.
Ghalibaf said Iran’s national security depended on maintaining what he called the “Iranian arrangements” in the Strait of Hormuz.
He added that negotiations at this stage did not amount to compromise but were, alongside war, part of a strategy of resistance and protecting national interests.
“Separating and choosing either negotiation or war as the only solution is a strategic error,” Ghalibaf said, adding that the strategy had not changed.
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