— Yes, the fact that Qalibaf keeps Parliament closed in order to shut down any dissent against the Memorandum of Understanding, is very worrying.

And it should be noted that even BEFORE the war, Qalibaf regularly failed to execute his duties as Parliament Speaker. I will give some examples from the top of my head.

He deliberately postponed the vote on leaving the NPT multiple times, until it was eventually shelved ‘indefinitely’ despite there being a big chance that it would’ve achieved a parliamentary majority. He also cut and limited the speaking time of government critics, like Dr. Amirhossein Sabeti, Mahmoud Nabavian, Rasaee, and so on.

And even before that. Back in 2023, the Parliament accepted the Hijab and Chastity law (seeking stricter and more efficient enforcement) with an overwhelming 152 votes in favor and 34 against.

But guess what? Despite the Guardian Council approving it, Qalibaf did not send the law to the President to be signed and implemented, which was supposed to happen.

First during Raisi’s time, when he knew it would be signed—and later during Pezeshkian’s time, when he covered for the Reformists and made sure that Pezeshkian didn’t need to sign it so he doesn’t lose popularity!

Qalibaf has been a joke for the past few years and nobody likes to see it because of his outwardly pro-revolutionary appearance, his history, and his IRGC ties. But he covers for Reformists 90% of the time.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷 Executive Deputy of the President, Jafar Qaempanah:

– Qalibaf played a key role in convincing the top military figures to agree with the MoU.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 IRIB: ‘The IRGC Navy has designated a route from the south of Larak Island for ships to enter and exit the Strait of Hormuz. If ships do not adhere to the Iranian-approved maritime route south of Larak, they will be responsible for any accident.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷 NEW: Following the announcement, some ships sailing through non-approved maritime routes near Oman made U-turns

Many of these vessels tried to defy Iranian control and attempted to pass the Strait of Hormuz by sailing south, near Oman, and not submitting an application to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇺🇸/🇮🇷 BREAKING: The Strait of Hormuz has been officially closed

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇷/🇱🇧 Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiyaa Central Headquarters:

وَإِنْ نَكَثُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ عَهْدِهِمْ وَطَعَنُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ فَقَاتِلُوا أَئِمَّةَ الْكُفْرِ إِنَّهُمْ لَا أَيْمَانَ لَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَنْتَهُونَ

{And if they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief, for indeed, there are no oaths sacred to them; so that they might cease} — Qur’an 9:12

‘In view of America's blatant breach of promise and breach of contract regarding the failure to implement Paragraph 1 of the Memorandum of Understanding to end the war.

And in response to the continuous violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon and the merciless killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of the oppressed people of this land, and failure of the Israeli occupation forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon:

We announce that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels.

It is noted that this first step is a response to the enemy's breach of promise, and if the aggression continues, further steps will be planned and taken to force the enemy to fulfill its obligations.’

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇷/🇨🇭 NEW: An Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, will travel to Geneva tonight to meet with U.S. officials

According to the Foreign Ministry, Araqchi will ‘demand clarifications’ and follow up on the implementation of the U.S. commitments in the MoU.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— NOTE: This statement by the Foreign Ministry came before the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was announced.

It’s possible Araqchi’s trip is cancelled.

— 🇹🇷 NEW: Turkey has been eliminated from the World Cup after losing to Paraguay

@Middle_East_Spectator

According to sources, Iran is not only demanding a ceasefire in Lebanon but a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the South before final negotiations.

—❗️🇮🇷/🇺🇸/🇨🇭NEW: IRIB confirms an Iranian delegation has departed to Switzerland to meet with U.S. officials

The delegation is actually bigger and more high-ranking than initially assumed, being led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Other delegates are Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Deputy Head of the SNSC Baqeri-Kani, Governor of the Central Bank Abdolnasser Hemmati, Deputy Foreign Ministers Gharibabadi and Ismael Baqaei, and the Deputy Minister of Oil, Hamid Bourd.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷/🇺🇸/🇨🇭/🇺🇳 NEW: Vice President J.D. Vance will be leading the American delegation tomorrow in Bürgenstock resort, Switzerland

He will be accompanied by Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, Qatari and Pakistani mediators, and IAEA Secretary General Rafael Grossi.

@Middle_East_Spectator

The delegations will be more or less on par with those of the Islamabad Talks.

But it’s somewhat strange for Iran to meet with U.S. officials when even Paragraph 1, the most basic aspect of the MoU, is not being implemented.

At least the Strait of Hormuz will be closed while these talks happen, offering an additional piece of leverage.

@Middle_East_Spectator

—❗️🇮🇱/🇱🇧/🇮🇷 NEW: Israel’s Channel 12, Walla News, and Yedioth Ahronoth report that Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to cease all combat operations in Lebanon, following Iranian pressure

Such reports of ceasefires have emerged multiple times in the past week, and each time Israel did not abide by it—time will tell if it’s true.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇷 NEW: In an absolutely ridiculous move, IRIB (Seda va Sima) announces it will sue Iranian MP Mahmoud Nabavian for criticizing the negotiatiors on state TV, accusing him of making ‘distorted statements about classified documents and high-level correspondence’

Nabavian was talking on TV and mentioning that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, gave his orders clearly to the negotiators (i.e. Qalibaf and Araqchi) but they ‘brushed it off’ and proceeded with signing the MoU anyway.

The broadcast was suddenly cut during Nabavian’s remarks, citing technical issues. Now we know this was false.

The Director General of IRIB responsible for the broadcast has also resigned and accepted responsibility for ‘allowing such an unethical guest’ on the live programme.

@Middle_East_Spectator

— Small correction: Last night, only one of these two was killed, Staff Sgt. Nir Ben, from the Maglan Unit.

The other soldier, Sgt. Yoav Klein, is one of four soldiers killed in the incident of two nights ago, in which the 52nd Batallion commander was also killed. His identity was released today.

🇮🇷🇺🇸| The Iranian delegation, headed by Ghalibaf, arrived in Switzerland.

They flew with the Meraj Minab168 plane, in memory of the Minab schoolchildren killed by the US.

JD Vance is also en route to Switzerland.

@FotrosResistancee