TEHRAN, May 23: Iran's top negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, told Pakistani army chief AsimMunir during talks in Tehran on Saturday that the US was not an honest party in negotiations to end their war and Iran would not compromise on its national rights, state television reported.
Iranian state media reported that Munir had also met President MasoudPezeshkian in the presence of Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, with whom he had two meetings, before flying out.
The talks reportedly centred on a 14-point document proposed by Iran, which it considers the main framework for the discussions, and messages exchanged between the two sides.
Ghalibaf said Iran would pursue its "legitimate rights", both on the battlefield and through diplomacy, but added that it could not trust "a party that has no honesty at all", an allegation Iran has made several times before.
He said Iran's armed forces had rebuilt their capabilities during the ceasefire and that, if the United States "foolishly restarts the war", the consequences would be "more forceful and bitter" than at the start of the conflict.
He also warned on Saturday of a "crushing" response if Washington resumes hostilities, after US media reports raised the prospect of new strikes.
"Our armed forces have rebuilt themselves during the ceasefire period in such a way that if Trump commits another act of folly and restarts the war, it will certainly be more crushing and bitter for the United States than on the first day of the war," Ghalibaf posted on social media.
US media outlets Axios and CBS News have reported that the White House is considering renewed strikes.
Ghalibaf made the warning after meeting in Tehran with Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal AsimMunir, a leading figure in international efforts to negotiate an end to the war, which broke out after the US and Israel attacked the Islamic republic on February 28.
Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday and left the next day, Iran's official IRNA news agency said.
Weeks of negotiations -- including historic face-to-face talks hosted by Islamabad -- have still not produced a permanent resolution or restored full access to the Strait of Hormuz, choking vast quantities of global oil supply.
US officials have repeatedly raised the prospect of renewed action against Iran if a deal is not reached. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Sweden that there had been "some progress" towards a peaceful resolution but "things were not there yet".
The impasse has left ordinary Iranians in limbo.
"The state of 'neither war nor peace' is far filthier than war itself," 39-year-old Tehran resident Shahrzad told AFP.
"You can't even plan something as simple as signing up for a gym, let alone bigger things... I'm about to start a new job, and I'm scared war might break out again -- that I'll end up leaving the job like before, running off to another city out of fear," she said. "AFP, REUTERS
