Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Majles (parliament) and a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), raised the possibility of a U.S. ground war and vowed to fight to the end.
On the 29th (local time), according to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, Speaker Ghalibaf said in a statement, "The United States is sending negotiation messages publicly while secretly preparing a ground attack," adding, "Our soldiers are waiting for U.S. forces to arrive on the ground and are ready to burn their lives."
Ghalibaf said, "The United States presented 15 demands for what it failed to achieve in war," adding, "Trump had a plan to bring down the Islamic Republic, but reopening the strait that had been open before the war became his real goal."
He argued, "The energy market is out of control, and the power the United States flaunted—from F-35 fighter jets to aircraft carriers—has taken a major hit." He went on, "We are fighting a massive world war," stressing, "We can punish the United States and make it regret it so that it will no longer even think of attacking Iran."
He also called for internal unity. Ghalibaf said, "We must all become pious and vigilant followers of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei." Mojtaba is the son of the late former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an explosion last month.
On the 26th, Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, officially confirmed that he had delivered a 15-point armistice proposal to Iran. The proposal reportedly includes dismantling nuclear facilities and banning uranium enrichment, transferring enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), prohibiting support for regional proxy forces, and guaranteeing passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States is also increasing its military power. It is adding the aircraft carrier George H. W. Bush to the Middle East and moving about 5,000 Marines and about 2,000 members of the 82nd Airborne Division, raising pressure on Iran with the possibility of a ground war in mind.