Iran's Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf Warns of Deepening Political Divisions Over US Conflict Strategy

Iran's Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned of growing divisions within the country's political establishment regarding the management of the conflict with the US, as officials remain split on the balance between military pressure and diplomatic negotiations.

Speaking to parliament on Sunday, Mr Ghalibaf stated, "In the past seven months, we have shown that we are not defenceless in the face of aggression." The hardliner added, "Our logic in confronting the enemy is intelligent advancement and imposing the will of the Iranian nation." He highlighted two opposing factions within Iran's political and intellectual circles, criticizing both viewpoints as strategic errors that could undermine the nation.

According to Mr Ghalibaf, the first approach advocates for war without offering any clear mechanism or horizon for bringing it to a successful end. By dismissing interaction and diplomacy, this faction allegedly pushes the country toward endless attrition. Conversely, he criticized the opposite current for underestimating national power, spreading fear, and prescribing surrender to the enemy's unilateral conditions.

These remarks follow a recent public dispute between Mr Ghalibaf and Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper and an ultraconservative figure appointed by the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Mr Shariatmadari had previously suggested that reformists and western-oriented groups were using Mr Ghalibaf's remarks on negotiations to distance him from the revolutionary camp.

In response, Mr Ghalibaf defended his stance in an open letter, asserting that negotiation is neither taboo nor intrinsically valuable, but rather a tool to be used alongside military pressure to advance national interests. Meanwhile, the debate extends to economic and strategic chokepoints, such as the Strait of Oman, where officials remain divided over leveraging commercial traffic. Mohsen Rezaei, chief of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, adopted a harder stance, warning that Tehran would halt all oil exports if the economic war persists. Mr Ghalibaf's comments underscore a fundamental debate among Iranian officials over how best to execute the country's resistance policy without succumbing to prolonged crisis or unwanted concessions.