"Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, drew a line in the sand and played his ace. He issued a statement saying (Google translation), “Until America corrects its behavior, the Strait of Hormuz will not open.” He goes on to enumerate the ways in which America must correct its behavior.
There are six conditions:
stop threatening us,
end the war,
lift the blockade,
pay for the damage you caused,
lift the sanctions,
and give us our money back.
Zolghadr finished by writing that Iran “will never back down, whether in war or in negotiations.”
The administration has not reacted (as of this writing). However, if previous form holds, Trump will make some hollow threat about the US visiting a civilization-ending Armageddon on the Islamic Republic before doing nothing significant. Regardless, the Mullahs won’t care. Domestically, they no longer worry about a popular uprising. Any thought among Iran’s citizenry that America was a potential knight in shining armor has been dashed by the US’s explosive but ineffective performance so far in the war."
- 2026-08-08