TEHRAN, June 8. /TASS/. Iran sees its goal in the talks with the United States in ending the war and ensuring security in the Middle East rather than in normalizing its relations with Washington, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said.

"Our goal is to put an end to the war and ensure long-term security rather than to normalize relations with the United States. And we do not trust the other side," he said in an address to the nation posted on his Telegram channel.

According to Ghalibaf, it’s wrong to say that Iran will be either fighting or negotiating. "It’s rather that we will be fighting at some time and negotiate at other time," he added.

He blamed the United States and Israel for the latest escalation. "The US president’s statements about the memorandum ran counter to the agreed parts of the deal, which revealed that they want neither truce nor dialogue. And we were forced to respond resolutely to defend the rights of the Iranian people," he noted.

Iran launched missile strikes on northern Israel late on June 7. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that all the missiles have been intercepted. The Iranian attack followed Israel’s raid against a Hezbollah facility in a Beirut neighborhood.

According to the Israeli side, this air raid came as response to Hezbollah’s shelling attacks on northern Israel. Prior to this, the Iranian authorities warned Israel of a retaliation if it strikes the Lebanese capital city. Overnight to June 8, Israel delivered a retaliatory strike against Iran, targeting military facilities in the country’s western and central parts. As a result, a petrochemical enterprise in the Khuzestan province was damaged. In the morning, Iran launched another shelling attack against Israeli territory.