Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has issued a stark warning that the United States’ naval blockade of Iran is not merely an economic measure — it is part of a deeper strategy to sow division inside the country and cause it to collapse from within. Speaking on state television, Ghalibaf said President Donald Trump is deliberately trying to split Iranian society into two opposing camps, labelling some as hardliners and others as moderates, before applying economic pressure through the blockade to exploit that division and force Iran into submission.
The warning comes at a particularly tense moment in US-Iran relations. Tensions between the two countries have been building for years, rooted in disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme, regional influence, and sweeping American sanctions that have already taken a heavy toll on Iran’s economy. The situation escalated sharply when Iran moved to close the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, through which nearly a fifth of all global oil and gas passes — a move that prompted the United States to respond with a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Ghalibaf, a powerful and well-known figure in Iranian politics, has grown increasingly prominent since the outbreak of the US-Israel conflict. He also led the Iranian side in the only round of direct face-to-face negotiations between Tehran and Washington, which took place in Pakistan — a rare and closely watched diplomatic moment that reflected just how high the stakes have become. His message to Iranians was clear and firm: the country must remain united. He described the blockade and the accompanying media pressure as a carefully coordinated outside attack aimed at weakening Iran not through military force, but by stirring internal discord and eroding public confidence in the government.
Analysts have noted that this kind of pressure — combining economic hardship with attempts to deepen political divisions — is not new in the context of US foreign policy toward adversarial states. However, the addition of a naval blockade marks a significant escalation, raising fears of a broader confrontation in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive regions. For now, Iran’s leadership appears determined to frame the crisis as an external threat that demands national solidarity rather than internal debate.
