Esmaeil Baghaei opened Thursday in Tehran with a formulation the paper has been waiting for. Iran, he said, is "closely monitoring field and political developments," with field placed first — the grammar is the policy [1]. The ceasefire extension, in Tehran's reading, runs only as long as US Navy pressure at Kharg and in the Gulf runs. Lift the blockade or the clock restarts.

The statement was timed. Hours later, the State Department opened Lebanon Round 2 with Israeli and Lebanese delegations. Baghaei did not mention Beirut. He did not need to. The Iranian line has converged across three voices this week — UN envoy Iravani on Tuesday, President Pezeshkian yesterday on X, and Ghalibaf's military adviser on state television — and all three now set the same precondition [2]. Washington hears one demand in three registers.

What the paper watches next is whether the Supreme Leader's office or the Guardian Council puts a signature on the line. So far neither has. A foreign ministry spokesman can be walked back. A Khamenei note cannot. Iran International reports the office is drafting a statement for Friday prayers [3]; the paper will treat anything short of that as negotiating posture, not red line.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem