Live Updates: Iran says it’s ready for new sanctions U.S. describes as “economic D-Day”
Abbas Golrou, chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday that the United States had asked a visiting Pakistani delegation to encourage Iranian officials to return to peace talks.
Golrou said Pakistani Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, during his visit to Tehran on Monday, delivered a message from Washington urging Iran to return to the memorandum of understanding.
“The Americans asked the Pakistanis to speak with the Iranian side so that Iran enters the political space and they can move forward together,” Golrou told Iran’s state-run ISNA News Agency. “On behalf of the United States, Asim Munir sent a message to Iran that Iran should return to the memorandum of understanding.”
Iranian officials have called over the past couple days for a return to the principles of the MoU signed by President Trump and his Iranian counterpart in mid-June. That agreement ushered in a ceasefire and a 60-day period intended for talks to negotiate a wider peace deal, but it collapsed and fighting resumed in early July.
Mr. Trump declared the ceasefire over, and the U.S. and Iran have remained locked in a stalemate over control of the Strait of Hormuz ever since.
According to Golrou, the message conveyed by the Pakistani delegation reflected what he called a contradictory U.S. approach, with Washington simultaneously threatening Iran and imposing new sanctions while also sending direct and indirect messages seeking negotiations.
“Americans, on the one hand, threaten and, on the other hand, directly and indirectly send messages for negotiations. This approach shows the ugly dual behavior of the American side,” he said, adding that the message delivered by Munir would need to be assessed by Iran’s leadership.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran unanimously supports the political process and wants the interests of the Iranian people to be resolved through political processes,” he was quoted as saying, adding: “The people of Iran are now prepared to stand against the Americans’ excessive demands and not give concessions to the American side.”
