Speaking by telephone on Iran’s state television program “Be Vaqt-e Iran” on Friday evening, Baqaei commented on the latest state of indirect contacts between Tehran and Washington and recent remarks by the US president.
“We said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago,” he said, referring to the victory of the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the US-controlled Pahlavi regime in Iran.
“None of the Western parties, when speaking about the Islamic Republic of Iran, can use the language of ‘must’. We make our own decisions based on the interests and rights of the Iranian nation.”
Addressing US claims regarding a naval blockade, Baqaei described the measure as illegal from the outset, saying it violated the ceasefire and disrupted freedom of international navigation.
“We must see in practice whether they will really act on what they are saying or whether it is merely a propaganda claim,” he said. “If they do so, it would in fact mean stopping a wrongful action that they began several weeks ago and should never have undertaken in the first place.”
On negotiations, the spokesman said that message exchanges between the two sides were ongoing but emphasized that “a final understanding has not been reached.”
Baqaei also said the Strait of Hormuz is closed to hostile and military vessels, while commercial ships have continued to transit the waterway in coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Regarding the future management of the strategic strait, he said the matter concerns its littoral states, Iran and Oman.
Asked about nuclear issues, Baqaei said Tehran’s focus at the current stage is on ending the war and that it had no comment on enrichment-related matters or Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.
The United States and Israel launched a war of aggression against Iran on February 28, with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
In response, the Iranian Armed Forces launched daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.
Iran also closed down the Strait of Hormuz to enemies and their allies after the launch of the unprovoked war, and began to exercise far stricter controls last month after Trump announced an illegal blockade of Iranian vessels and ports in violation of the terms of a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire that took effect on April 8.
