Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharaibabadi has said that peace “cannot be built through the language of humiliation, threats, and coercive demands for concessions”.

“When a party that itself has played a direct role in war, blockade, sanctions, and threats of force rejects Iran’s response simply because it is not a document of surrender, it becomes clear that the real issue is not peace, but the imposition of political will through intimidation and pressure,” he writes on X.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasised clear principles: a permanent end to the war and guarantees against its recurrence, compensation for damages, lifting the blockade, removal of unlawful sanctions, and respect for Iran’s rights,” he adds.

Gharibabadi notes that these are not maximalist demands but prerequisites for any serious, sustainable peace arrangement consistent with the UN Charter to end a crisis started by the illegal use of force.

“One cannot simultaneously speak of a ceasefire while continuing the blockade; speak of diplomacy while intensifying sanctions; or speak of regional stability while providing political and military support to a regime that is the source of aggression and instability,” he adds.

“Such an approach is not negotiation; it is the continuation of a policy of coercion through diplomatic language.”