Iran's Major General Rezaei says "there will be no negotiations until Iran's conditions are met"

Statements of this kind from senior Iranian military figures are a recurring feature of Tehran's negotiating posture, and the historical read is that maximalist public lines have frequently coexisted with quieter back-channel contact; the signal to weight is the identity and seniority of the speaker relative to the actual decision structure, since uniformed hardliners have tended to stake out the hard line while the foreign ministry and the supreme leader's office retain the real negotiating latitude. The distinction worth drawing is between a refusal to negotiate outright and a refusal at current terms: conditioning talks on demands being met first is the latter, which leaves the channel open and prices as posturing rather than rupture. Transmission runs through crude via risk premium on Gulf supply and tanker insurance rather than physical flows, which only move on actual escalation or sanctions enforcement shifts. In comparable episodes, the premium has tended to fade absent a kinetic follow-through or a formal breakdown of whatever track exists. The tells are whether the language is echoed by the supreme leader's office, whether mediators confirm or deny ongoing contacts, and whether there is any movement on the nuclear file or sanctions waivers in the days following.