Ghalibaf and Vance Advocate for Negotiations Amid Escalating War

What he says

An English translation of the talk, which is in Persian. It was made with AI from YouTube's automatic captions and may contain errors; the Persian transcript is authoritative. Click a timestamp to jump to that part of the video.

0:01 Hello. It is Wednesday, the 24th of Tir 1405, July 15, 2026. Tension and military conflict between Iran and the United States have escalated. Since Iran fired on oil tankers south of the Strait of Hormuz last week, the tension has kept rising, and American attacks have intensified, especially on four provinces: Khuzestan, Bushehr, Hormozgan, and Sistan and Baluchestan. Today, attacks on Ahvaz caused the sound of

0:55 explosions to be heard all over the city, to the point that several missiles struck the area around Baghaei Hospital, a chemotherapy center especially for children with cancer, forcing the hospital to be evacuated. Final exams in all four southern provinces of Iran have been suspended for now, and exams at the Ahvaz medical school have also been postponed until the end of Tir. In addition, yesterday several missiles hit a military base and killed soldiers who were in their barracks. Of the 8 killed, 6 were conscript soldiers in Bampur

1:51 where these missiles struck, and two were army personnel. According to Iran's Ministry of Health, 35 people have been killed nationwide so far in the month of Tir and more than 200 wounded. In return, Iran has continued to carry out attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, parts of Fujairah in the so-called east toward Oman, which belongs to the UAE, and also Jordan. Several missiles, drones and rockets were also launched toward the area around the US consulate in Erbil. In Iran, Mr. Ghalibaf issued a very

2:50 lengthy statement today. In it, while defending negotiations, he stated that in any case the line between war and negotiation is determined by the Leader, and said that negotiation is also part of the strategy of resistance alongside war. In effect, he defended negotiations, which these days are under harsh attack from the hardliners. In the United States, too, Mr. JD Vance, who headed the American negotiating team, addressed Americans who say there should be no negotiations at all and said with surprise: well, if you don't want to negotiate, then what are you supposed to do? In the end, war and bombing also have to end in negotiations.

3:48 In any case, the flaring up of the war, especially with Mr. Trump's haphazard, contradictory remarks, the rambling and excessive statements he repeats every day, and especially his threats against Iran's infrastructure—power plants, energy centers, bridges and so on—has created a deadly state of waiting whose result is widespread economic recession. Those hardliners, whether inside Iran or outside Iran, who defend the war must answer for the economic situation. Today, shopkeepers at the Alaeddin and Charsou shopping centers

4:45 went on strike in protest against the rise in the dollar rate, which has climbed to 188,000 tomans. Their business, which is the sale of computers, mobile phones and the like, depends heavily on the dollar rate because all their goods are imported, and on top of that the recession in the market has practically made doing business impossible for them. Drivers on Valiasr Street also protested over their living conditions and their professional and livelihood issues, and they were met by agents attacking them on Valiasr Street with tear gas and batons.

5:39 In Gilan, workers at the Iran Wood and Paper factory, Chuka, expelled the CEO because of several months of arrears in wages, overtime and so on, and because of the dismal state of the factory, which once employed close to 300 workers but has now fallen into stagnation and bankruptcy. The power outages that have begun have crippled the country's industries, and according to the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, they are inflicting more than 430 thousand billion tomans in damage on the country's industries. In any case, the situation of the factories, the situation of shopkeepers,

6:36 of people on fixed salaries, of retirees, some of whom still haven't received their pensions by late Tir—whatever part of society you touch, you see crisis. A crisis that consists, on the one hand, of runaway inflation in all goods, especially food and people's basic necessities, and on the other, of a recession that has gripped the economy, so that the wheels of the country's economy are turning slowly or, in some sectors, not turning at all. But Mr. Trump, who said the day before yesterday that he would open the Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, and collect the money for it

7:33 from a 20 percent toll on the cargo and trade of the ships and so on, took that statement back today when he faced strong objections. Interestingly, he said that we will no longer collect the 20 percent toll, but we will get the money for the work we are doing to open the Strait from the Arab countries, who will come and invest in America. Of course, this too is one of Mr. Trump's incoherent statements that will not come to pass, and no such money will come out of the Arabs' pockets. But

8:24 the football World Cup is nearing its end, and its fever has risen all over the world. The finalists have been determined: Spain and Argentina. One is the champion of the European Championship in 2024, namely Spain, and the other is the winner of the Copa América, the championship of the South American countries on the American continent, in the same year. This final on Sunday will be, for the first time in history, between the champion of Europe and the champion of the Americas, in effect a clash of the champions of two continents. Interestingly, tonight's match between England and Argentina also became tinged with political issues. Earlier, the Vice

9:24 President of Argentina had spoken in a post about the Malvinas War and taking, so to speak, revenge for that war on the football field. That war took place in 1982 and lasted 74 days, and in it England defeated Argentina and kept the Malvinas Islands, or as the English call them, the Falklands, in British hands. This story was repeated tonight at the stadium in Atlanta, in the US: a banner that some spectators had brought, saying the Malvinas will always belong to Argentina, reached the players and after the match was also laid on the pitch.

10:23 The world of football, which attracts billions of people and has brought FIFA more than 13 billion dollars in revenue in this very World Cup, is reaching its hottest days and has naturally drawn in politics and politicians as well. Hoping for the victory of Iran and Iranians.