A woman inspects the rubble of a collapsed building in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, southern Lebanon, on June 23. [AFP]
A woman inspects the rubble of a collapsed building in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, southern Lebanon, on June 23. [AFP]

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament and head of Iran's end-of-war negotiating team, said the truce agreement between Iran and the United States amounts to "a declaration of American defeat." He said the memorandum of understanding brokered by Pakistan was not the result of outside pressure but a product of Iranian resistance.

Speaking in Azerbaijan in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television, Qalibaf said the so-called Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding was "not the result of pressure and coercion, but a product of the resistance and dignity shown by the brave Iranian people," according to local media reports Wednesday.

"That is why the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has become a declaration of American defeat," he said. He added that Middle East security must be guaranteed by the region's own nations, and that the presence of foreign troops is a source of instability, not stability.

Qalibaf identified the withdrawal of foreign forces as a strategic objective for Iran. "The presence of foreign troops in the region cannot create sustainable security," he said. "We view their withdrawal as a strategic goal."

He also addressed the situation in Lebanon, saying the truce there was as important as Iran's own truce, and that ending the war in Lebanon mattered as much as ending the war in Iran.


rim@heraldcorp.com