TEHRAN -- Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Thursday that Iran’s conditions for possible negotiations with the U.S. and ending the war have been clearly and repeatedly articulated to mediators, stressing that a “carrot-and-stick” approach will not work against Tehran.
In a post on his X account, Ghalibaf said any progress will be achieved only once Tehran’s seven conditions are accepted by Washington. 
“Iran’s conditions have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators. The carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran. Progress can only be achieved once Iran’s seven conditions have been agreed upon,” he wrote.
A senior Iranian security official confirmed on Thursday that U.S. Vice President JD Vance had sent a message to the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Major General Mohsen Rezaei. 
The unnamed official told Iran’s IRNA news agency that Iran has not responded to the message, and that media speculation about its contents is inaccurate.
However, accounts close to Rezaei described the tone of Vance’s letter as markedly softer and more respectful than previous U.S. communications, particularly compared with the threatening language Washington used before the 12-day and 40-day wars. 
Mostafa Najafi, a figure close to Rezaei, wrote that “the threatening rhetoric is far more muted and a soft, respectful tone is prominent” in the Vance letter, adding that the choice of the SNSC secretary as the recipient—rather than the foreign ministry—carries a distinct political message.
Iranian sources close to the leadership also rejected U.S. media characterizations of the letter as a sign of diplomatic progress or Iranian retreat. 
An informed Iranian source cited by Al-Mayadeen said Tehran will take “no new step” before the seven conditions it has communicated to Washington are implemented, and dismissed American reports framing the correspondence as a breakthrough as “completely incorrect”.
The source also rejected President Trump’s claim that the letter concerned Iran’s need for medical supplies, calling it “completely false”.
Iran has conveyed its conditions to the United States through mediators to resolve outstanding issues over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of global oil demand passes. 
The Islamic Republic closed the waterway following the launch of the U.S.-Israeli aggression against the country on February 28. Iran and the U.S. agreed on a 60-day reopening period as part of a Pakistan-mediated Memorandum of Understanding in June, but American violations forced Tehran to re-establish the closure.
Tehran has previously outlined several conditions for reopening the strategic waterway, including an end to aggression on all fronts, the lifting of the U.S. naval blockade imposed on Iran, the removal of illegal sanctions, and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad.