Iran is prepared to return to war if the United States fails to honour its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, head of Iran’s negotiating delegation, has warned. <\/p>\n
Speaking about the implementation of the agreement, Qalibaf said Tehran viewed recent developments in the Persian Gulf as violations of the understanding that ended the conflict and would respond accordingly, News.Az<\/a> reports, citing Mizan News Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We consider the incidents taking place in the Persian Gulf over recent nights to be violations of the understanding that ended the war, and we will certainly respond to them,” he said. “We are engaged in dialogue, but if they refuse to honour their commitments through negotiations, we are ready for war.”<\/p>\n Qalibaf claimed that recent attacks on US facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait had been carried out in response to what he described as violations of the ceasefire, adding that they demonstrated Iran’s determination to enforce the terms of the agreement.<\/p>\n He said Tehran remained committed to implementing the memorandum through diplomacy but insisted that it would respond with force whenever the other side failed to uphold its obligations.<\/p>\n “Wherever the language of logic and the memorandum fails, we will use the language of force,” Qalibaf said.<\/p>\n The Iranian parliament speaker also reiterated that the country’s missile programme and what he described as the “Axis of Resistance” were non-negotiable, while maintaining that Iran would continue to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). He stressed, however, that uranium enrichment remained Tehran’s “red line”.<\/p>\n Qalibaf also claimed that sanctions relief was already under way, saying Iranian oil exports had resumed following the lifting of what he described as the US naval blockade. He added that, under the terms of the memorandum, part of Iran’s frozen assets held abroad would be released.<\/p>\n