Aref says Iran has entered post-war conditions and will defend national interests through negotiation

Mohammad-Reza Aref, Iran's First Vice President, said on Monday, 27 July 2026 (5 Mordad 1405), at a meeting with a group of former ambassadors that Iran "has now entered post-war conditions" and must draw on all its domestic capacities to get through them. He added: "We believe in dialogue, and we defend the national interest through negotiation."

Aref said the enemy achieved none of its declared objectives in the war with Iran and that the world now expects a greater role from post-war Iran. He defended the record of the foreign service, called Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi one of the country's outstanding diplomats, and described the memorandum of understanding as the product of that work, saying even critics inside the government regard it as a valuable document. The First Vice President also criticised the law barring the re-employment of retirees and proposed forming an "assembly of former ambassadors" as a diplomatic think tank.

The remarks come as the United States has held off on strikes since the evening of Friday, 24 July, and as Iran and Oman continue consultations on a mechanism for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. For domestic markets, the official tone on negotiation is one of the main variables steering the exchange rate, the gold market and the Tehran Stock Exchange index.