TEHRAN: Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, announced on Saturday that the country’s temporary leadership council has decided to halt attacks on neighbouring states, unless Iran is directly attacked from their territory.
In a statement issued in Tehran, Pezeshkian also apologised to neighbouring countries for the recent strikes, stressing that Tehran has no intention of targeting other nations in the region.
However, he made it clear that Iran would not surrender to the United States or Israel, insisting that any attempt by its adversaries to force Iran to abandon its weapons would fail.
The announcement comes after Iran launched retaliatory strikes against US military installations in nearby countries following attacks by the United States and Israel. Those strikes reportedly resulted in civilian casualties and the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump stated that Washington would only consider negotiations with Iran if Tehran accepted “unconditional surrender.” Speaking a week after the United States joined Israel in military operations against Iran, Trump said any agreement would only come after such a concession.
In a social media post, Trump said that once a “great and acceptable” new leadership emerges in Iran, the United States and its allies would work to stabilise the country and help rebuild its economy.
Trump also told Reuters that he wants to play a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. In a separate interview with NBC, he dismissed the idea of deploying US ground forces in Iran for now, saying the country’s military capabilities had already suffered major losses.
Responding to comments from Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who warned that any ground invasion would end in disaster for invading forces, Trump called the remarks unnecessary.
He further suggested that the current Iranian leadership should be removed quickly, saying the United States does not want a leadership transition that would allow the existing system to rebuild over many years. Although he said he had potential candidates in mind for Iran’s leadership, he did not disclose any names.
On Friday, heavy airstrikes were reported in Tehran after Israel said it had begun a new phase of the war, targeting what it described as key regime infrastructure.
The conflict has also extended to the Indian Ocean, where a US submarine reportedly sank an Iranian naval vessel near the coast of Sri Lanka.
