IRAN PERSPECTIVE

Tehran, June 23, 2026. Upon the Iranian delegation's return from Switzerland, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf offered a triumphant reading of the Lake Lucerne negotiations: according to him, "forcing Trump to shift his position on opening the Strait of Hormuz is the result of the combination of soft and hard power of the Islamic Republic." A formulation that reveals much about Iran's official interpretive framework: diplomatic advances are presented not as compromise, but as American capitulation obtained under military and political pressure.

The concrete results are undeniable. Kazem Gharibabadi, head of Iran's technical negotiating team, confirmed that the United States issued a general license on the OFAC website authorizing the sale of Iranian petroleum, petrochemicals, petroleum products, and related services. Agreements on the release of 12 billion dollars in frozen assets—in two tranches of 6 billion—enter implementation immediately. The naval blockade has been lifted, and petroleum and gas shipments through Hormuz have returned to pre-crisis levels.

On Strait governance, Tehran stresses one key point: Iran will administer Hormuz "with Iranian arrangements," under international law. A contact line will be established for other parties to flag concerns to Iran—not the reverse. Ghalibaf emphasized that the memorandum's Article 4 stipulated the Strait's reopening within 30 days on Iran's terms, but Trump announced it open the evening of signature. "This is the power of the Islamic Republic that we managed to get Trump to correct the tweet he had posted."

Negotiations were not without friction. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei revealed that sessions lasting 18 hours were interrupted when threatening US social media posts appeared during the four-party meeting. The Iranian delegation refused to resume talks in four-party format, forcing Qatar and Pakistan to serve as intermediaries to maintain discussions in an alternate arrangement. Iran International reports that US Vice President JD Vance proposed using released Iranian assets to purchase American agricultural products—a proposal developed by Jared Kushner with Qatari officials.

Four working groups were established: sanctions, nuclear matters, reconstruction and economic development, and monitoring and implementation. On the nuclear file, Pakistan disclosed that a compromise was reached allowing Iran to reduce its enrichment level while preserving its stored reserves underground. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi praised Pakistan and Qatar's "tireless" mediation as the decisive factor in advances. Baghaei summarized Iran's principled position: any progress toward a final agreement remains conditional on prior implementation of clauses 1, 4, 10, and 11 of the memorandum—notably the cessation of Israeli operations in Lebanon.