Pezeshkian warns Iran will respond strongly to new US attacks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Iran will respond strongly and resolutely if the United States continues to fight with it, emphasizing that Iran has never initiated a war. He made the remarks in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier on the sidelines of his trip to New York for the 81st United Nations General Assembly.

Pezeshkian said Iran has been forced to defend itself whenever it has come under attack, and rejected pressure aimed at forcing Iran to surrender outside the framework of international law. "And today the pressures that they keep imposing on us are to force us to surrender outside the legal framework of international law, which is impossible," he said. The remarks come against the backdrop of the US-Israeli war on Iran that began with air raids on February 28, which assassinated a number of high-ranking Iranian officials and military commanders, along with more than 160 schoolchildren and staff in Minab. The war came to a temporary halt after 40 days, following Iran's response to the aggressors. Tehran and Washington then signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding on June 17 to end the war. However, the US breached its commitments and ignited more rounds of fighting as the MoU collapsed. "Without any legal justification or framework, they attacked us, assassinated our Leader, our scientists and military commanders, government officials, and our children," Pezeshkian said. He said the United States had labeled Iran as terrorists while Iran had been the target of terrorism.

Asked about indirect negotiations between Iranian diplomats and US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in New York, Pezeshkian said Iran's position remained anchored in international law. "That which is discussed and negotiated is within the framework of international law, and what would be rightfully ours under international law," he said. He said Tehran had never sought anything beyond its lawful rights. "We never sought anything more, and the result of that, based on that foundation, we're seeking an agreement if the counterpart agrees to it." Pezeshkian noted that Tehran is "willing" to move forward with the Islamabad MoU. He said the central obstacle in negotiations with the US was the "deep mistrust" that has developed between the sides, linking that mistrust to the fate of the 2015 nuclear agreement, saying Iran had previously reached an agreement with the United States before Trump withdrew from it unilaterally in May 2018. "Your president tore that up." Pezeshkian questioned how the two sides could resolve outstanding disputes if they could not establish trust through dialogue. "If we're unable to trust one another within the framework of a dialogue, how can we hope that these issues will ever be resolvable?"

President Pezeshkian noted that the Strait of Hormuz was fully open before the start of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran. He said that the restrictions imposed by Iran over the strategic energy chokepoint were a response to the aggression and also the illegal blockade imposed by the US against Iranian vessels. "The problem is that within the strait, those who have been responsible for a lifetime for a strait, they are forbidden to move their vessels through the waterway; then of course, we will not recognize that right for other vessels." According to Mehr News, Pezeshkian's comments underscore Iran's position amid ongoing tensions with the United States.