2026-01-29T08:14:12+00:00
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Shafaq
News– Tehran
The
United States can initiate a war but would not be able to control its outcome,
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Thursday,
asserting that thousands of US troops would fall within the range of Iranian
forces if hostilities occur.
Speaking
to reporters ahead of a parliamentary session, Ghalibaf added that Iran remains
open to negotiations with the United States as long as they are “honest and
genuine,” while vowing that Tehran would respond with overwhelming force to any
attack on the country.
His
remarks came after US President Donald Trump indicated that Iran is seeking
negotiations, as Washington positions a large naval force in the Middle East.
Trump told Axios that the US has a “big armada next to Iran, bigger than Venezuela,”
referring to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which entered the US
Central Command area on January 26, though he has not made a final decision on
military action.
Washington
had previously considered strikes in response to Iran’s handling of protests
that erupted in December 2025, before choosing to delay action and reinforce
its military presence. According to the human rights group HRANA, aggregated
data show 6,221 confirmed deaths linked to the protests as of the 31st day of
unrest, including 5,858 protesters and 100 children, alongside 42,324 arrests
and more than 11,000 severe injuries.
Tehran
has also warned that any US strike, whether limited or wide-scale, would be
treated as an “all-out war.” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander
Mohammad Pakpour declared that Iran has its “finger on the trigger,”
underlining the country’s readiness to respond to any aggression.
Read more: Washington holds back: Calculated pressure, not war, shapes US policy toward Iran