Ghalibaf Says Strait of Hormuz Will Never Return to Its Pre-War State

EXCLUSIVE

Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator says Tehran is waiting for an official US response to its seven conditions for ending the conflict.

Published On 11 Nov 202611 Nov 2026

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the Strait of Hormuz will “never return” to its pre-war status.

He said Iran and Oman reached an understanding to oversee the critical waterway as part of Tehran’s seven-point proposal to end the eight-month conflict.

Ghalibaf said the strait does not contain “free waters” under international law and that the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea does not apply to it. The regulations within the Strait of Hormuz are instead governed by the laws of the two littoral states bordering it, he said.

He added that Tehran has sent its response to the US through a Qatari mediator and is awaiting an official US response.

“The ball is now in the American court,” Ghalibaf said.

According to him, Iran’s conditions include the lifting of the US naval blockade and sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian funds, an end to fighting on all fronts, and an explicit announcement that the war is over.

He said these demands were part of the Islamabad memorandum of understanding signed in June and that their implementation was necessary before negotiations with the US could move forward.

“If America limits itself to what has been agreed upon without making excessive demands or engaging in behaviour that breeds distrust, then, naturally, reaching an agreement is possible,” he said.

“What stands in the way of an agreement is our lack of trust in the United States.”

Renewed Conflict

Ghalibaf said US officials asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to mediate direct negotiations with Tehran during a visit to Moscow.

He warned against new US attacks on Iran, saying that US President Donald Trump would face another defeat and political pressure from the new Congress that takes office in January.

Iran is determined to move beyond a state of “no war and no peace,” he said, urging a sustainable deterrent capability, including military capability.

Yemen Mediation

On the ongoing fighting in Yemen between Saudi-backed internationally recognised government forces and the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah, Ghalibaf said that “no one should interfere” in it.

“If both the government in Yemen and Saudi Arabia were to ask for our help, we would certainly offer our assistance to help resolve their conflict,” he said.

Iran has previously offered to facilitate talks between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi group in October following a series of deadly attacks on the kingdom.

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