Iran Says War Must End on All Fronts Before Talks With US Can Resume

Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and commitments made by the United States are implemented, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Ghalibaf said Tehran would pursue both military and diplomatic means, using force to confront its adversaries while turning to negotiations when appropriate to consolidate what it gains on the battlefield.

His comments came as Iran's top security official said Tehran had formally conveyed conditions to Washington for resuming negotiations aimed at ending the war, with Qatar acting as a mediator.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Al Jazeera that Iran's conditions included an end to the fighting on all fronts, the release of frozen Iranian funds and an end to the U.S. naval blockade. He said Qatar had passed the conditions to Washington and that Tehran was awaiting a response from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rezaei said Qatar and Pakistan were continuing consultations to revive negotiations after a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States expired last month. He said Tehran remained open to diplomacy but was also preparing for a possible escalation.

“It is in Washington’s interest to accept these conditions. Trump’s threats will not achieve any results. We are prepared for a decisive war,” Rezaei said, according to Al Jazeera.

He did not rule out another U.S. strike on Iran, describing the possibility as “very much on the cards” based on Tehran’s military assessments. Rezaei said Iran’s military planning had changed since two previous rounds of fighting and was now focused on U.S. naval assets stretching from the Gulf through the Gulf of Oman and into the Arabian Sea.

Rezaei also said Iran had recently test-fired a multi-warhead anti-ship missile near a U.S. vessel or aircraft carrier and suggested its warheads could be further developed. He said any future Iranian response would include U.S. bases in the region as well as American commercial interests and companies operating there.

Asked whether the conflict could end soon, Rezaei said the war was “still going on” in practical terms, while stressing that Tehran was pursuing a new strategy aimed at bringing the conflict to an end as quickly as possible.

Iran keeps nuclear policy unchanged

On Iran’s nuclear program, Rezaei said Tehran had not decided to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite what he described as grounds to do so following U.S. and Israeli attacks.

He said Iran continued to follow a religious decree, or fatwa, issued by former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini prohibiting nuclear weapons and that the country’s nuclear doctrine had not changed. But he cautioned that future developments, including additional sanctions or a referral of Iran’s nuclear file to the U.N. Security Council, could affect Tehran’s position.

“We have not changed our nuclear doctrine, but we do not know what will happen in the future,” Rezaei said, according to Al Jazeera.

Rezaei also rejected U.S. accusations that Iran had violated the collapsed memorandum of understanding by attacking an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. He said Iranian actions came only after U.S. strikes on Bandar Abbas and an Iranian surveillance platform there.

He said any agreement required the use of a dispute-resolution committee agreed upon by Ghalibaf and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, which he said Washington had withdrawn from unilaterally.

Tehran distances itself from Yemen conflict

Rezaei denied that Iran was directly involved in Yemen’s war, saying Tehran was prepared to help mediate between the warring sides but had not sought to exploit the conflict for its own political purposes.

He also dismissed speculation that Iran could close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to put pressure on global energy markets, saying the waterway was a Yemeni issue linked to the actions of the Houthi movement rather than Iran.

The comments came as fighting between Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi Arabia intensified. The Houthis claimed missile and drone attacks on what they described as sensitive sites in Riyadh and an Aramco facility in Yanbu, while Saudi authorities said a ballistic missile launched toward Riyadh had been intercepted.

Smoke and flames were reported near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, while Saudi authorities issued air-raid warnings before later announcing an all-clear.

US issues security alerts

The escalation prompted the U.S. Embassy in Israel and other American diplomatic missions across the Middle East to issue security alerts.

The embassy in Israel urged U.S. citizens to exercise heightened vigilance and warned of possible flight cancellations, airspace closures and travel disruptions. The alerts also warned that Iran and groups supporting it could target U.S. interests, businesses and institutions overseas.

The U.S. State Department separately warned that the conflict could escalate rapidly and advised Americans outside the Middle East to seriously reconsider travel to and through the region.

The warnings followed the Houthi attacks on Riyadh and came as the wider conflict continued to put pressure on regional airspace, shipping and energy infrastructure.

Trump returns to Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump also unexpectedly cut short his weekend at Camp David and returned to the White House on Saturday, amid the heightened regional tensions.

The White House had previously scheduled Trump's return for Sunday. His public schedule showed him remaining at Camp David on Saturday, with a return to Washington planned for Sunday.

No official explanation was immediately given for the change in plans. The developments came as Tehran signaled that it remained open to mediated negotiations while simultaneously preparing for further military confrontation.