Iran President says country will not surrender to Israel, US
TEHRAN ( WEB NEWS
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would never surrender to Israel and the United States, as Middle East war entered its second week.
Iran’s enemies “must take their wish for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” Pezeshkian said, in a speech broadcast on state TV.
Iran has since responded with missile and drone strikes on Israel and US interests in regional countries, mainly in the Gulf.
Pezeshkian is among three members of an interim leadership council that has been in charge of Iran since Khamenei’s killing.
During the speech, Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring countries for Iran’s attacks across the region, saying that they would not be targeted unless attacks originated from them.
“I must apologise on my own behalf and on behalf of Iran to the neighbouring countries that were attacked by Iran,” he said.
“The interim leadership council agreed yesterday that no more attacks will be made on neighbouring countries, and no missiles will be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries.”
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that the country’s temporary leadership council had approved the suspension of attacks against neighboring countries unless an attack on Iran came from those countries.
The announcement came as Iran continued to launch attacks in the region in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Earlier, A spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) challenged U.S. President Donald Trump to deploy U.S. naval vessels to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
The U.S. Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, Trump said on Tuesday. The conflict in the Middle East has halted shipping and energy exports through the vital Strait of Hormuz.
“We recommend that, before making any decision, the Americans remember the fire on the American supertanker Bridgeton in 1987 and the oil tankers that were recently targeted,” Naini said.
At least nine vessels have been attacked since the U.S. and Israel first began strikes on Iran on Saturday, and the Guards ordered ships not to cross the strategic waterway.