Key facts
- Iran's Basij paramilitary unit head, Hossein Taeb, claimed the US was 'forced' into seeking a ceasefire.
- Taeb stated Iran did not ask for negotiations but that the US violated a prior document and initiated talks due to inability to continue.
- Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, Iran's Supreme Leader representative in India, asserted the US was compelled to announce a ceasefire due to potential defeat.
- Ilahi indicated that peace would be contingent on Iran's terms being accepted.
- Ilahi denied Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons, citing religious prohibitions.
Senior Iranian officials have asserted that the United States was compelled to seek a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict, rather than initiating negotiations from a position of strength. Hossein Taeb, head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, stated that Tehran had not asked for a ceasefire, but rather the US was "forced" to call for negotiations after violating a previously reached document. He claimed the US could not tolerate the document for 60 days and believed returning to negotiations would appease the Iranian nation.
Taeb further remarked that Iran's armed forces "stood firm" during the war, "exposed the weaknesses of the US military," and that America had put all its might into the field expecting a swift conclusion. He reiterated that Iran did not weaken and ask for negotiations, but it was America that initiated them.