Addressing a parliamentary session on Sunday, Qalibaf said Iran would not be intimidated and would respond forcefully to any act of aggression against its territory.
He stressed that until the US changes its behavior, abandons its bullying and greed, and makes tangible and practical amends on the ground for its violated commitments, none of its claims will carry the slightest credibility for the Islamic Republic.
“It was the US that, through its miscalculations and its war against Iran, plunged itself into a quagmire. Now it is the Americans who must take the necessary steps to extricate themselves,” he added.
Qalibaf said that six decades later, the same pattern of domination persists, with the “ruthless Zionist regime” committing crimes and genocide in the region while Washington seeks to break the Iranian nation’s will through sanctions, assassinations, and military and economic acts of malice.
Iran is no longer a colony under the influence of Western and Eastern advisers, but an independent and powerful regional force that has turned any prospect of renewed domination by imperialism and Zionism over the nation’s destiny into a lasting nightmare, he stated.
Going further, Qalibaf said Iran is working to drive the US out of West Asia.
The Americans, he added, believe that a few media pressure tactics or military threats can force the Iranian nation into submission.
“Unaware of the fact that today’s Iran is not the Iran of the Pahlavi era of humiliation, but rather an impregnable fortress of self-confidence, defensive strength and iron will,” he said, adding that Iran would never allow any foreign power to dictate the terms of the country’s dignity and sovereignty.