'Children of Minab are watching us': Iran's Ghalibaf arrives in Switzerland for talks with US

As Iranian and American officials prepare to sit across the table for the first round of technical talks since the end of the recent West Asia conflict, Iran has once again brought the tragic Minab school strike into the spotlight. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Saturday (Jun 20) invoked the memory of the children killed in the Minab school strike, saying their sacrifice would remain at the forefront of his mind as Tehran engages with Washington over the implementation of a recently signed 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU).

'Children of Minab are watching us'

In a post on X, posted before the negotiations in Switzerland, Ghalibaf said he viewed the victims of Minab and other Iranian "martyrs" as silent witnesses to every decision taken by the country's leadership.

"I consider the innocent children of Minab and all the martyrs of dear Iran to be watching over my every action and behaviour at every moment," Ghalibaf wrote. "God forbid that I should ever bring shame to the innocent martyrs and the people of Iran."

The post carried the hashtag "Minab168", a reference widely used in Iran to commemorate the victims of the incident.

Iran delegation reaches Switzerland for vital talks

The comments came as a high-level Iranian delegation arrived in Zurich for talks with the United States aimed at advancing commitments made under the agreement that helped halt hostilities between Iran, the US and Israel earlier this year.

Ghalibaf is leading the Iranian team. It includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, senior security official Ali Bagheri, National Iranian Oil Company chairman Hamid Borde, and several deputy foreign ministers and diplomatic officials.

According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, the discussions will focus primarily on the implementation phase of the agreement and whether both sides are fulfilling the commitments outlined in the memorandum.

Iran cautious ahead of talks, warns against repeat of past 'broken promises'

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, who is also part of the negotiating team, struck a cautious tone ahead of the talks. "Every agreement and understanding is tested when the time comes for its implementation," Baghaei said, as quoted by IRIB.

Referring to previous diplomatic disputes between Tehran and Washington, he added that Iran would closely monitor whether commitments made by the US are honoured. "Given our experience of the other party's breach of promise, we must seriously pursue the fulfilment of their commitments," he said.

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