Ghalibaf's Hard Line On Talks Resurfaces As Iran-US Negotiations In Pak Loom

An old video of Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf reiterating then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rejection of negotiations with the United States has resurfaced, as Tehran weighs participation in high-stakes talks with the US scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan.

In the February 10, 2025 speech, Ghalibaf referenced Ali Khamenei's position on engagement with the administration of US President Donald Trump, stating, "The Leader said we will not negotiate with America. This means it's clear and final."

"This doesn't mean we won't negotiate with others," Ghalibaf said in the same speech. "Of course, the matter of the Zionist regime is clear."

The remarks have resurfaced on social media on the eve of proposed negotiations between the Iran and the US in Islamabad, where preparations are underway despite uncertainty over Iran's attendance.

Around the same time as Ghalibaf's speech, Ali Khamenei had echoed the stance, saying negotiations with the United States were "neither intelligent, wise, nor honorable", and would have no impact on resolving Iran's problems. "In the 2010s, we negotiated for about two years with America and several other countries, a deal was formed, but the Americans did not adhere to it, and the very person who is now in office tore it up," he had said, referring to Trump.

Pakistan was on Friday set to host Iranian and US delegations for negotiations in its capital, which official sources told AFP will range across several sensitive points, including Iran's nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the strategic Strit of Hormuz maritime chokepoint. "The holding of talks to end the war is dependent on the US adhering to its ceasefire commitments on all fronts, especially in Lebanon," Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said. "If the travel plan is finalised, the composition of the delegation will also be announced," he added.

Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day. Fresh fractures in the mediation process emerged when Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote a sharp criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon Thursday evening, in a post taken down hours later on Friday. "Israel is evil and a curse for humanity -- while peace talks are underway in Islamabad, genocide is being committed in Lebanon," he wrote on X, adding that he hoped "people who created this cancerous state on Palestinian land" would "burn in hell."

Islamabad pressed ahead with preparations for the talks, with heightened security, road closures, and the clearing of a major luxury hotel that was expected to host delegations. Authorities declared a two-day public holiday, leaving much of the capital's high-security Red Zone largely deserted.

If the talks go ahead, a key point of contention remains the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil as well as vast quantities of natural gas and fertiliser pass in peacetime. Trump accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the strait and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement.

The US has confirmed that it would host talks next week between Israel and Lebanon aimed at discussing ceasefire arrangements. Neither Israel nor the Lebanese government have publicly confirmed these talks, although the announcement came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to seek direct dialogue with Lebanon focused on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah.

On Wednesday, Israel's heaviest strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March killed hundreds, rattling the uneasy ceasefire between Washington and Tehran less than 48 hours after it came into force.

Attacks continued overnight, with air raid sirens in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv and other parts of the country and Hezbollah announcing it carried out drone and rocket strikes early on Friday on Israeli forces on both sides of the border as well as a town in Israel's north.