Iran's parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has accused US President Donald Trump of conducting 'theater diplomacy on loop' after the American leader repeatedly announced he was ordering attacks on Iran, only to call them off at the last minute.
In a social media post on Thursday, Ghalibaf dismissed Trump's narrative, stating that Washington keeps oscillating between military threats and offers to negotiate as a failed pressure tactic. "'Massive attack coming…wait, never mind, they want to negotiate.' That's theater diplomacy on loop," he wrote on X, adding that using "bullying + broken promises + fake news as leverage is a failed strategy."
The Iranian official called on the US to "acknowledge the facts" and fulfill its commitments. His remarks came just days after Trump canceled a planned large-scale military strike on Iran, claiming that Tehran and other regional countries had asked Washington to call off the attacks because a diplomatic breakthrough was imminent.
Trump claimed that the agreement would bring the "immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT" and end what he called "Iran's nuclear threat." However, Iran has been holding talks with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran asserting that a deal is "on the verge of being finalised" after both countries agreed on the coordinates of routes through the critical waterway.
The strait, a vital artery for global energy supplies, was a free international passage before Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 29, sparking a months-long regional conflict. Iran is now asserting sovereignty over the waterway, parts of which pass through Iranian and Omani territorial waters. The closure of the strait and attacks on energy infrastructure have sent oil prices soaring.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters he believed the war with Iran was close to an end, promising that petrol prices would drop once the conflict concludes. "I think it's going to end pretty soon. I don't think they can go much longer," he said in the Oval Office, adding that he is involved in negotiations with Iran and "we're doing fine." Despite Trump's optimism, Iranian officials have emphasized their readiness for a prolonged war, casting doubt on the US regime's claims of an imminent breakthrough.
Source: www.aljazeera.com