Iran's president defends U.S. memorandum of understanding as best path forward

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called on Iran and Iraq to strengthen economic cooperation and prepare for what he described as "unjust sanctions," warning that the United States and Israel had shifted toward economic warfare after failing to defeat the two countries militarily.

Speaking to Iranian and Iraqi businesspeople at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, Ghalibaf said the two countries should develop mechanisms to withstand sanctions and reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar.

"If you look at the resources and raw materials of Muslim countries, you will realize that our enemies come to plunder them," Ghalibaf said, according to a post on his channel on the Telegram messaging app. He called for plans to overcome sanctions and argued that Iran and Iraq could conduct trade using their own national currencies.

"Today, it is possible to conduct trade exchanges using national currencies and strike at the mouth of the U.S. dollar," he said.

Ghalibaf also stressed the close link between economic strength and security, describing them as "two wings of the same bird."

Ghalibaf said the U.S. and Israel had recognized that they could not overcome Iran and Iraq through conventional military warfare and had therefore turned to "cognitive and economic warfare."

"You are now the soldiers and commanders of this battlefield," he told the business community.