TEHRAN, June 19, (V7N) – Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Friday that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran's "red lines." "As we have shown in the past path of negotiations, we are steadfast in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in achieving the interests of the Iranian nation," Ghalibaf said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency. He added that if the enemy seeks to be excessive, "our fingers are on the trigger."

Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding this week ending a regional war that erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Ghalibaf's remarks came after Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the US-Iran deal despite having a "different view" on the matter. In a message read out on state television, Khamenei said direct talks with the United States "will not mean accepting the enemy's point of view."

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's foreign policy apparatus "will be used to secure the sublime interests of Iran" and "protect the rights of the noble Iranian nation." President Masoud Pezeshkian, who signed the deal on behalf of Iran, issued a similar statement promising to adhere to Iran's red lines and defend its "dignity, honour and authority."

The US-Iran deal, which US President Donald Trump also signed, lays the groundwork for detailed 60-day negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme and sanctions relief. The agreement provides for an end to the Middle East war on all fronts, lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and Tehran's reopening of the Strait of Hormuz "with no charge for 60 days only." It also includes an Iranian commitment not to procure or develop nuclear weapons.

Conservatives in Iran appeared deeply sceptical of the deal, with some expressing concern that Tehran could be giving up key sources of leverage before securing compensation. Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper, said "Americans do not honour any commitments." Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament's national security commission, took issue with reports of possible UN inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities, warning that "the parliament will stand up to lawlessness and disobedience" if such claims are true.

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