Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that Tehran is opposed to war but will not accept pressure or intimidation, while maintaining that it will honor existing agreements despite its lack of trust in its adversaries.
“We do not want war and conflict and consider them harmful not only to the people of our country but to the world. At the same time, we will in no way yield to force and bullying," Pezeshkian added, as quoted by Iran International.
Pezeshkian said Iran should not turn down an opportunity for peace because negotiations can provide security, but cautioned that an adversary could potentially exploit talks to harm Tehran. “We have no trust whatsoever in the enemy, but we remain committed to our agreements," he said.
His remarks came as US President Donald Trump considers his next move toward Iran. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Trump said he was weighing several options, including additional military action, maintaining economic pressure or reaching an agreement with Tehran.
Trump also indicated that he would be willing to meet Pezeshkian, who is expected in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly.
In an interview with Axios this past Thursday, Trump said he was facing a major decision over whether to resume large-scale attacks against Iran.
“I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate [the Iranian regime] or do I not? It's a big decision. Anything could happen with me," he said.
Trump subsequently told Fox News that Iran wants an agreement but is not yet prepared to reach one.
“Iran wants to make a deal. They’re not ready, in my opinion," Trump said. “They’re going to either make a deal that’s good, or we’re not going to make a deal at all."
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Saturday that Tehran had delivered seven conditions to Washington for the resumption of negotiations. He did not disclose all seven publicly.
“The United States, if it wants to extricate itself from the predicament it has created, must accept Iran’s rights and conditions," Rezaei wrote on social media, saying the demands had already been conveyed to Washington.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Rezaei specified three of the conditions: ending the war “on all fronts," releasing frozen Iranian funds and lifting the US naval blockade. He said Qatar had transmitted Tehran’s demands to Washington and that Iran was awaiting Trump’s response.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Yom Kippur in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)