As the Islamic Republic of Iran has endured a full-scale 40-day war, the head of the country’s negotiating team with the United States, in a televised interview with the public, simultaneously with the release of the content of the memorandum of understanding between the two countries, narrated for the first time the details behind the scenes of the field and diplomatic battle. From the unprecedented coordination of the four fields of military, popular, diplomacy, and negotiation, to the moments when threats quickly turned into agreements at the negotiating table as the battle continued, this narrative presents a new picture of a strategy in which “negotiation” was not a path to compromise, but a method of struggle itself.
Publish dateThursday 18 June 2026 - 13:47
Story Code : 358308
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Tehran: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and also the head of the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Iran, presented a different version of Iran's conditions after a 40-day war in a televised interview with the people on Wednesday evening, simultaneously with the release of the content of the country's finalized memorandum of understanding with the United States.
Recalling the memory of Iran's martyrs and referring to the vacant place of the martyred Imam, he said: "This year, we are holding the month of mourning for Hussein in a situation where the place of many loved ones among us is empty. Our martyred Imam, the Imam who taught us to become Husseini, to live Husseini, and to die Husseini, took the Ashura flag from our great Imam and until this third war, at the beginning of the third Husseini war, he went and entrusted it to their righteous people."
Referring to the nine goals that the United States and the Zionist regime had designed for this war, he emphasized: "We did not allow any of those goals to be achieved. They did not achieve any of their goals, and this war showed exactly different dimensions.”
The difference between this battle and the era of Iran’s Sacred Defense, according to him, is in the formation of four intertwined fields that “exactly guard each other”: first, the military field, where the armed forces are holding the front with tact and courage; second, the popular field or “People’s Street,” where people have come to the scene since dawn on the tenth day of the holy month of Ramadan, whether they have eaten breakfast or not, and this presence continues; third, the diplomatic field, which is pursued with authority; and fourth, the negotiation field. This coordination, according to Ghalibaf, is the result of “coherence, rationality, and authority.”
A negotiation that is itself a method of struggle
In the language of the head of the Iranian negotiating team, diplomacy is “diplomacy of authority,” and the desired negotiation is a negotiation that is itself a method of struggle. Referring to the experience of the JCPOA agreement, he clarified: “I am not against negotiations, but I agree; but we must pay attention to which negotiations we agree with. I agree with negotiations that are themselves a method of struggle.”
According to him, victory in the military field created a greatness that became the support for the negotiating table. “An enemy that is equipped with technology and facilities from head to toe is not comparable to us in the eyes of some; but this nation has been sent and believes in divine traditions, the top of which is rationality.”
In this view, “neither commitment nor sloganeering is accepted.” He warned that “slogans without action embolden and embolden the enemy, because it considers it an empty threat and a bluff.”
When you negotiate and shoot at the same time
The most important part of Qalibaf’s narrative is the image it presents of the simultaneity of the field and negotiations. He revealed that even during the negotiations, a decisive military response to any aggression was on the agenda: "In the ceasefire issue, they themselves were persistent for months and we did not accept it. When the ceasefire was agreed upon, they again carried out harassing actions in the Persian Gulf, and in the last case, their helicopter was immediately met with our reaction. We hit two of their frigates and set them on fire in a way that satellite images confirmed. Even their flights from airports in the region were within our range."
The key point here is: "This was while we were negotiating at the same time. The enemy understood that when we talk about negotiations, our sword is ready."
The Dahiyeh affair; a threat that turned into an agreement
Ghalibaf also referred to the incident of the attack on the Lebanese Dahiyeh and said: "When they hit Dahiyeh, America was threatened that we would respond. At around 2am, Trump tweeted to Netanyahu that he no longer had the right to strike Dahiyeh. That means that with the negotiations we were pursuing and the military power, the matter was achieved.”
He continued that even after that, the Zionist regime wanted to respond to the operation, which “we did again.” He also revealed that while in Tehran negotiating with the mediators, something happened in southern Lebanon at the same time, and he immediately tweeted that “we are on this issue and we will definitely respond to this aggression.”
According to him, when he was told “don’t strike,” his response was: “We will definitely strike. You have to be careful not to respond. Because you struck, we will strike. If you strike, we will strike the region.”
What was the result of this approach? “Whatever we wanted to achieve through military action, we got many times over through negotiations; it was not comparable at all. By 2 a.m., Trump announced a ceasefire not just in the suburbs, but in all of Lebanon. That night, security returned, and today more than 50 percent of the displaced have returned to their homes.”
21 hours of non-stop negotiations in Islamabad
The narrative of these negotiations also had tense operational dimensions. Qalibaf revealed that after arriving in Pakistan, after performing morning prayers and taking only a two-and-a-half-hour break, they entered meetings without interruption from 7:30 a.m. and held three rounds of trilateral negotiations (face-to-face with the mediator present) until 7:30 a.m. the next day; that is, 21 breathtaking hours of negotiations.
“The other side was completely focused on the nuclear issue, but our priorities were ending the war, determining Lebanon’s fate, our demands, and ensuring This was the absence of starting a war and making no threats, removing barriers to the export of oil, oil derivatives and petrochemicals, and liberalizing banking, insurance and transportation activities.” It was also emphasized that the part of lifting sanctions, as mentioned in paragraph 13, “must be implemented from the very beginning.”
In those 21 hours, there was a decisive moment: “In the final 20 minutes of the third round, I explicitly told them that I was not allowed to discuss the nuclear issue and postponed the rest of the work until I reviewed the text of the agreement.”
Entering with complete distrust, but with good intentions
Qalibaf made a bitter confession about his mental atmosphere for entering these negotiations, referring to the history of the assassination of General Soleimani by the US: “America, and especially Trump, planned General Soleimani and ordered his assassination. For me, his position was different from everyone else’s. Do you think it was easy to sit down with such people and seek to solve a problem? I was not really a volunteer for this negotiation and even had a strong dislike for it. But when I saw that all the officials believed and insisted on this and did not even accept my alternative options, I realized that this was no longer a personal matter. We are not moving with personal desire, we are moving with duty.”
He clarified that in Islamabad, he had explicitly told J.D. Vance, the American side: “We have entered into negotiations with you with complete distrust; because we know how much America has betrayed this nation from 1953 to today. But the point is this: we have come with good intentions, but we speak with authority.”
Before the negotiations began, when he had seen Vance’s statements about Lebanon before the flight, he had emphasized at the airport: “Lebanon is an issue that must be clarified. Until this issue is clarified, no negotiations will begin.”
Clauses that broke the seal
One of the quickest results of the understanding, according to Qalibaf, was the lifting of the naval blockade: “According to the agreement, the blockade was supposed to be lifted within 30 days, but Trump tweeted that same night: I lifted the naval blockade of Iran. This happened and the Strait of Hormuz opened.”
He also pointed to the potential of the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “The Strait of Hormuz was a potential that the enemy made real with its own actions. According to international law and the 1982 Convention, the management and control of the strait belongs to the coastal states and we have sovereign rights and naturally we have to charge for the services. We can turn the Strait of Hormuz against itself.”
On the issue of frozen assets, Qalibaf said bluntly: “We agreed in clauses 4, 5 and 10 that these clauses must be implemented and completed. The money must come to our accounts, be available and be at the disposal of the Central Bank. We are pursuing this issue vigorously. If they cooperate, we will act according to our commitments. If they betray, we are also men of the field. Someone who does not understand logic must be spoken to with the logic of power. I may not be a diplomat, but I know how to explain to America what it should do for us.”
The issue of war damages is also included in Article 6 of the memorandum of understanding: “The issue of damages and their compensation is definitely in our goals. Part of these resources will be spent on compensation and reconstruction, and its mechanism will be regulated.”
From understanding to resolution; trust is forbidden
Despite these achievements, Qalibaf warned that one should not simply trust the other party’s commitments: “In Article 14, it is stated that after implementation, the agreement must be ratified by the Security Council and become a resolution. But the JCPOA was in the same situation, and Trump tore up the same official resolution in front of everyone. Therefore, one cannot trust such things too much. What brings trust is power. Our most important guarantee is strength and cohesion, trust in God, Ashura culture, and Iranian zeal.”
However, he announced the Westerners’ admission of America’s failure in this memorandum and said: “The Westerners themselves called this memorandum of understanding a failure of America. The legal aspect was discussed for hours, and for example, we included the phrase “completely” in the text precisely to guarantee implementation.”
At the same time, he revealed the proposal of the three European countries to negotiate sanctions immediately after this understanding and said: “We do not intend to reject them.”
Action for action, with a monitor
The mechanism for ensuring implementation is also foreseen in this memorandum. According to him, “Action for action is defined in Article 13. For this issue, we will appoint a monitor and we must even agree on mediators. But if they do not fulfill their obligations, it is impossible for us to fulfill our obligations. If we reach a point where it is necessary, we will definitely and definitely respond.”
He recalled: “One of their commitments was that they wanted to overthrow us. Even some friendly countries were with us. In the first 20 days of the war, many thought that our work was finished. But today everyone has seen the power of the Islamic Republic.”
The end of the war, the beginning of the field of service
With the end of this stage, according to Qalibaf, “the flag will be handed over to the field of service.” As a member of parliament and servant of the Iranian people, he said: “We must mobilize in the parliament, the government and the judiciary. The first priority is the people, who have really faced many problems in the economic sphere, and in recent days, their problems have doubled. The first benefit of this agreement must be in such a way that the people see its effects.”
The Iranian armed forces also need “attention, reconstruction and modernization.” According to him, “We will never abandon these four fields. "We must always, as the children of the front say, be on the "edge"; that is, the leading edge of the battle for Islamic Iran."
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