The response from the speaker of the Iranian parliament, who is increasingly emerging as one of the Iranian regime's front figures, is also an - albeit indirect - insult directed at Washington:
"They could not achieve their goals through military aggression; nor through bullying. The only way forward is (for them) to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation," Ghalibaf wrote on Wednesday afternoon.
He also reiterated Iranian counter-demands ahead of a possible negotiation with the US; Israel must cease all military activity on "all fronts", and the Strait of Hormuz cannot be opened "as long as violations of existing ceasefires occur" (in Lebanon and Gaza).
“Fractured leadership”
The Iranian response came barely a day after Trump announced late Tuesday that the United States was extending the ceasefire until Iran's "fragmented" leadership could agree on a proposal.
The announcement was a complete reversal, as Trump had said earlier in the day that he had no plans for an extension - and that he "expects to bomb" if no agreement is reached.
But the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues, according to Trump.
Tehran had already announced earlier on Wednesday that Trump's unilateral ceasefire was meaningless.
"Continuing the blockade is no different from bombing and must be met with a military response. Moreover, any extension of the ceasefire is undoubtedly a way to buy time for a surprise attack. Now is the time for Iran to take the initiative," Ghalibaf's advisor Mehdi Mohammadi wrote on X.
“500 million a day”
On Wednesday, at least three ships were reportedly attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. The state-run Iranian Fars news agency reported that Iran's Revolutionary Guard was behind the attacks and that two of the ships were taken into Iranian territorial waters.
"The Revolutionary Guard (...) stands ready to decisively, definitively and immediately confront any threat," the Guard said in a statement.
Trump, in turn, said that the blockade of Iranian ports would cause Iran to "collapse economically."
"They want to open the Strait of Hormuz immediately - starved for money! They are losing $500 million a day," he wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday, local time in Sweden.
