Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said the United States attempted to open direct channels of communication with it, but Tehran rejected the approaches outright. The IRGC also said negotiations should not necessarily be viewed as a path towards settlement or peace, describing them instead as “another stage of the war”.
IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohbi told AFP: “The Americans tried to contact us, but we reject any communication of this kind. Our dealings with the enemy, as long as it continues its hostility, will be exclusively through weapons.”
Mohbi added that diplomatic affairs remain the responsibility of Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
In separate remarks to Iran’s official IRNA news agency, Mohbi said negotiations did not necessarily amount to reaching a settlement or establishing peace, but could instead constitute “another stage of the war”.
He said negotiations, alongside military confrontation, could form part of the wider struggle if Iran’s national interests required it.
Prepared for a Prolonged War
Mohbi said the Revolutionary Guard was prepared to fight a long-term war, while stressing that this “does not mean completely ruling out negotiations”.
The position draws a distinction between rejecting direct US communication with the IRGC and excluding diplomacy altogether, with Mohbi indicating that negotiations could still be used as one element of the confrontation if Iranian interests demanded it.
He also said Iran possesses the technological infrastructure required to manufacture missiles with significantly longer ranges.
According to Mohbi, the obstacle is not technological capability but political decision-making, indicating that any move towards producing longer-range missiles would depend on a decision by the country’s political leadership.
