Professor Mohammad Marandi says Iran will not accept new terms from the US until Washington implements existing commitments, with war preparations continuing.Iran will not implement any agreement with the United States unless Washington first honors its existing commitments, Professor Mohammad Marandi said, arguing that the memorandum of understanding signed by President Trump was never carried out and that implementation, not new terms, is the central obstacle.On Al Mayadeen’s The Great Standoff: Iran and the World, Marandi said the working assumption in Tehran is that war will resume, with the United States expected to restart strikes on Iran’s infrastructure and its people. “They are, on the one hand, planning for a very long war,” he said, noting that the administration has shifted its economic policy to a wartime footing.That shift, he explained, indicates “Iran is preparing for a confrontation lasting through the end of Trump’s presidency and possibly beyond.”War could come before US midterms, provoked by NetanyahuWar could come before the midterm elections, Marandi argued, provoked by Benjamin Netanyahu if he fears losing and acts out of desperation.“It may happen after the midterm elections because Trump’s interests are to keep things quiet until the midterms,” he added, saying the president does not want the energy crisis to worsen before the vote.He pointed to the volume of refueling aircraft in Qatar and other countries, along with large shipments of equipment and fighter jets, as evidence of preparation for a major assault.“The sheer number of refueling planes in Qatar and other countries and huge amounts of equipment and fighter jets to the region clearly indicate that they are preparing for a major assault on the country,” Marandi said, while Iran expands its underground missile sites and increases its stock of missiles and drones.The economy as a vulnerabilityAny escalation would be dangerous for the United States, Marandi noted, because “the global economy is in a much more precarious situation than it was seven months ago, and any escalation could be very, very dangerous for the US economy,” he stated.He rejected the notion that targeting Iranian aviation carries economic weight, pointing out that trade “usually goes by land or by sea because flights are expensive…Flights are mostly for tourism and for pilgrimage.”Medicine is the exception, he continued, and that is precisely what the United States is hitting. “They want people to die due to shortages,” he said, adding that the objective has always been to make Iranians desperate enough to rise up and serve what he called an utterly evil empire. He said he flew to Moscow on Mahan Air and will return to Tehran on the same Iranian carrier, and that Iran’s most important routes are to China and Russia.Iraq’s expulsion of US forcesThe removal of American forces from Iraq marks a major achievement, Marandi called it, describing nearly half a century of US involvement that began with support for Saddam Hussein and continued through direct occupation.“This is a major milestone and a major achievement of the Iraqi people to finally expel the occupation forces from their country,” he said. Financial control over Iraqi oil remains the lever Washington uses to dictate terms, he added, and Iraqis will keep pushing until the country is fully liberated.He credited the Iraqi people rather than any negotiation for the outcome. “For the Iraqi people, it was an issue of principle and an issue of sovereignty,” Marandi noted, calling their protests across the country courageous and an example for a region that wants to stand against the empire. He rejected the idea that the demonstrations were driven by financial concerns, arguing instead that Iraqis refuse to have a government that obeys the United States.“The fact that the Iraqis went to the streets across the country shows that this is an indigenous demand of ordinary Iraqis,” he said.BRICS Urges ‘Maximum Restraint’ as US-Iran War Tests Unity at New Delhi SummitGulf alignment with NetanyahuMarandi called Mohammed bin Zayed’s closeness to Netanyahu a miscalculation, saying the Emirati leader believes the alliance strengthens his regional position on Yemen, Sudan, Iran, and Somalia but is undermining his own legitimacy instead.“He is badly mistaken,” Marandi said, noting that people across the region despise Netanyahu as the symbol of mass murder, and that even inside the Emirates, where speech is restricted, that sentiment exists.“Even in the Emirates, although people are not allowed to speak, people hate the Israeli regime and they despise Netanyahu,” he stated.Russia and the wider moodAt a conference in Moscow, Marandi said, academics from multiple countries approached him to express admiration for Iran’s stand against the United States, and Russian television hosts have spoken openly about it.“Almost universally, those who have spoken about it have said that they did not expect Iran at all to be able to achieve victory over the United States,” he noted. He contended that this shift in mood has practical consequences, because greater confidence in Iran and its allies leads other governments to rely on them more.“That has not only an impact on public opinion, but it has an impact on policy,” Marandi argued.No concessions without implementationMarandi stressed that Iran will grant no concessions while the United States fails to act on the memorandum of understanding. He said the Iranians want it implemented rapidly, with the Strait of Hormuz open within days of the Americans fulfilling their side.“The Iranians demand the full implementation of the MOU,” he stated, adding that the content matches the seven demands in the proposal.Whether the framework is called the memorandum, the seven-point plan, or something else, Marandi continued, the principles are identical and cannot be touched: ending the occupation of Lebanon, halting the genocide in Gaza, and returning Iran’s stolen assets.He dismissed the possibility that a fresh American promise would resolve anything. “On paper, whatever the United States says doesn’t mean anything to Iran,” he said. “What is important to Iran is implementation.” (Al Mayadeen – English)