Iran ready to reciprocate if US honours MoU

Speaking at the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state meeting in Bishkek, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed the recent conflict with the United States and Israel. He stated that the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on 13 June 2025 and 28 February 2026 were a clear aggression against the UN Charter and international law. He said the aggression began with the assassination of the Leader, the killing of 168 students and teachers at a school in Minab, and an attack on a sports hall in Lamerd that killed and wounded 200 people on the first day of the 40-day war.

Pezeshkian asserted that Iran imposed heavy strategic defeats on the United States and the occupying regime of Israel, forcing Washington to accept a ceasefire after failing to achieve any of its predetermined objectives. He noted that nearly three months of talks mediated by Pakistan and Qatar led to the Islamabad memorandum of understanding on 18 June 2025. However, he said U.S. commitment to a document bearing the American president's signature lasted less than two weeks.

"I say clearly: if the United States returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate. Unlike America, my country has a brilliant record of honouring its international commitments and has always acted in accordance with the principles of international law," he said.

The president also proposed three economic initiatives for the SCO: deepening financial and banking cooperation, including wider use of national currencies and the establishment of an SCO bank; creating an SCO export insurance and investment union; and forming an SCO energy consortium. He also proposed establishing an SCO strategic security studies centre and a parliamentary forum of SCO member states.

Pezeshkian emphasized that security and development are inseparable, and the organisation must address both security and economic dimensions simultaneously to play an effective role toward multilateralism. According to Mehr News Agency, these remarks were made during the SCO summit in Bishkek.