Iranian Parliament Speaker: We are ready for all options, they will be surprised

Tehran (ANTARA) - Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday (11/5) that the country’s armed forces are ready to provide a “lesson-giving” response to any form of aggression. His statement on the social media platform X came after US President Donald Trump on Monday rejected Iran’s response to the US proposal on Sunday (10/5), warning that the ceasefire between the two countries is in a “critical condition.” “Our armed forces are ready to take a lesson-giving response to any aggression,” Qalibaf said, emphasising, “We are ready for all options. They will be surprised.” Iran sent its response to the latest US draft proposal to end the war to mediator Pakistan on Sunday. Outlining Iran’s peace proposal in his weekly press conference on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said his country is only demanding the “legitimate” rights of its people in the proposal. Baghaei added that ending the war in West Asia, stopping the US “maritime piracy” against Iranian ships in the form of a naval blockade, freeing Iranian people’s assets frozen in foreign banks for years, ensuring safe traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and building peace and security across the region are not “excessive demands.” Meanwhile, the head of Iran’s atomic agency said on Monday that the country’s nuclear technology and uranium enrichment cannot be negotiated, according to Iran’s official news agency IRNA. “The nuclear technology issue is not on the negotiation agenda (with the US), and enrichment cannot be negotiated,” said Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as quoted in the report. Iran, the US, and Israel reached a ceasefire on 8 April after 40 days of war that began with a joint US-Israel attack on Tehran and other cities in Iran on 28 February. After the ceasefire, Iranian and US delegations held one round of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, on 11 and 12 April, which failed to produce an agreement. In recent weeks, both sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions to end the conflict through Pakistan.