Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday claimed that 7 million Iranians “stand ready to fight any US ground invasion” of Tehran and defend the Islamic republic.

Speaker Ghalibaf, who is reportedly known as the possible negotiating partner with the United States, has posted a series of comments challenging America since the US-Israel started their military operation against Iran.

In a post on X, the senior Iranian lawmaker wrote, “Right now, in less than a week, a powerful national campaign sweeping across the country has brought forward around 7 million Iranians who have already stepped up and declared they’re ready to pick up arms and stand in defense of our nation.”

Listen up…

You Come for Our Home…
You Meet the Whole Family. pic.twitter.com/5raQK72IvH

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 2, 2026

The claim of 7 million Iranians “standing ready to fight US” has been circulating on social media for a few days but the Iranian parliament speaker is the first high-ranking official to mention it in Tehran, a country which is home to about 90 million people.

It remains unclear from where, the figure of 7 million as claimed by speaker Ghalibaf, comes from but the state media and text message campaigns have urged people to volunteer in the favour of it, AP reported.

The report further added that Iranian government has also asked retired soldiers to express their interest in fighting, while the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force has started accepting children as young as 12 years into its forces.

Ghalibaf ended the message saying, “You come for our home…you meet the whole family. Locked, loaded and standing tall. Bring it on.”

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had announced that if a deal to end the conflict is not reached “shortly” and the Strait of Hormuz is not opened, the American military might as well seize Kharg Island, which is Iran’s primary oil export hub.

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz still remains 94% down as compared to a year ago.