Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has issued a fresh warning to the United States, declaring that Tehran will not retreat in the face of threats, military pressure, rhetoric or economic and commercial blockades.
Ghalibaf’s remarks came in response to statements made by U.S. President Donald Trump during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, where Trump warned that the United States could take decisive military action against Iran if an agreement to end the conflict was not reached. Reuters reported that Trump said he faced a choice between reaching a deal with Tehran and annihilating the Islamic Republic, while also suggesting that diplomacy could still produce an agreement.
Reacting to Washington’s position, Ghalibaf said Iran would not be intimidated or forced into submission by external pressure. He warned that any aggression against the Islamic Republic would receive what he described as a “harsh, regret-inducing, precise and swift” response.
Using a defiant Persian expression effectively meaning “make your move and we’ll make ours,” the parliamentary speaker signalled that Tehran considers military confrontation and economic pressure part of a broader struggle in which Iran intends to respond on its own terms.
Ghalibaf has repeatedly adopted a confrontational position toward Washington in recent weeks. On September 6, he warned that Iran’s response to any future attack would be “faster, heavier and more painful,” saying the era of what he called “proportionate responses” had ended.
His latest warning also comes against the backdrop of the continuing dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints. Iranian officials have linked the reopening of the waterway to conditions they say must first be met, while Tehran and Washington continue to exchange messages through intermediaries.
On September 20, Ghalibaf said Iran did not view war and negotiations as mutually exclusive. He argued that Tehran should fight when necessary while negotiating at an appropriate time, maintaining that diplomacy should be conducted from what he described as a position of strength.
The speaker has also previously warned that a tightening of any blockade against Iran could trigger a military response. In September, he said that if efforts were made to prevent Iran from exporting oil through the Persian Gulf, Tehran could take measures that would affect other countries’ ability to export energy as well. Those remarks underscored the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz in the confrontation.
Meanwhile, diplomatic channels have remained open despite the increasingly forceful public rhetoric. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on September 28 that Qatar was expected to convey new Iranian proposals and conditions to the United States as part of efforts surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the broader conflict. Tehran has said its conditions must be addressed before the waterway can be fully reopened.
The contrasting messages — military warnings on one side and continuing indirect diplomacy on the other — reflect the difficult balance Tehran is attempting to maintain. Ghalibaf has argued that Iran should neither reject negotiations outright nor accept what Iranian officials describe as unilateral American demands.
For now, his latest warning reinforces Tehran’s stated position that pressure will not automatically produce concessions. At the same time, diplomatic contacts indicate that communication between Iran and the United States has not completely broken down.
With tensions remaining high and the Strait of Hormuz at the centre of the confrontation, Ghalibaf’s message to Washington is unmistakably firm: Iran says it will not retreat under pressure and is prepared to respond if it believes its security, interests or sovereignty are attacked.
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