AhlulBayt News Agency: President Masoud Pezeshkian, referring to the recently imposed war on the country, says Iran did not start the conflict, but was forced to defend itself against the aggression launched by the United States and the Israeli regime under false pretexts.
In an interview with India Today published on Sunday, Pezeshkian addressed several issues, including Iran’s steadfastness six months after the US-Israeli war, the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, American interventionism, illegal sanctions, and divisive regional plots by the Washington and Tel Aviv regimes.
Pointing to the imposed war and Iran’s legitimate defense, he said the American-Israeli attacks—their martyring of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and military commanders, killing of innocent schoolchildren, assassinating scientists, and destroying the country’s infrastructure—were against all international law and humanitarian principles.
According to him, the Iranian nation’s resistance was unimaginable to the enemies, who saw the country getting more united by the day, and even those who held grievances or faced difficulties stood together to preserve the nation’s integrity, defending Iran and protesting the US-Israeli aggression and crimes.
He referred to US and Israeli propaganda and constant lies, saying they launched the aggression under false pretexts because Iran, as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), had never sought to acquire nuclear weapons, and its facilities had been subject to the most extensive monitoring. “Had we been seeking nuclear weapons, we would not have become a signatory to the NPT,” he argued, raising the question as to what evidence the United States had found that gave it the audacity to commit aggression against Iran.
Pezeshkian further criticized the global silence on the crimes committed against the Iranian nation, saying the Israeli regime that keeps questioning Iran’s peaceful nuclear program itself possesses nuclear warheads. Why do international organizations not object to the fact that Israel has nuclear weapons yet is not an NPT member?
Deploring the conduct of Israel and the oppressive behavior exhibited by the United States against Iran and elsewhere in the region, through aggression and sanctions, the Iranian president warned against the world turning into a “savage” place, where some can easily kill people—women and children—and destroy hospitals and universities, cut off access to water, food, and medicine; everyone watches, yet they continue to defend it.
In response to a question regarding a ceasefire between Iran and the US, Pezeshkian explained that the US-Israeli attacks initially began amidst the negotiations, yet Tehran preferred to return to the table but was again attacked while on the verge of reaching a final agreement. Even after all those acts of aggression and brutality, Iran agreed to a framework of understanding, which Trump rejected and tore up, he said.
Enumerating the recent US failures, he said the Trump administration initially intended to subjugate Iran but in vain, and it then started targeting Iranian infrastructure, blocking maritime channels for the import of goods, medicine, and food.
He rebuked the US claims regarding human rights, saying that attempting to starve Iranians, not allowing the sick to get access to medicines, and aiming to force Iranians into submission through disease or hardships are the most barbaric acts, yet the Americans and their backers speak of human rights.
They pay lip service to human rights, he added; the world looks at their outward appearance and believes they are telling the truth, ignoring the reality that those countries are killing innocent people every day in Gaza, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iran.
On Iran-India relations, Pezeshkian, while emphasizing the historical and cultural ties between the two countries, expressed hope that both would be able to build a new structure in order to counter the totalitarianism that is developing in the world.
Regarding Chabahar and our potential ties with India, Iran occupies a unique geopolitical position; in terms of transportation and regional connectivity, it serves as a crossroads linking south to north and east to west, he added.
He also mentioned his talks with Indian officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, saying their discussions focused on various topics, including boosting trade and investment.
Pezeshkian went on to describe Iran’s relations with its neighbors—including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, and China—as friendly. He identified US military bases in the region as the primary issue, noting that Iran has never initiated a war and has only defended itself against aggression by the US and Israel.
He further said that the goal of BRICS was to put an end to the hegemonic behavior of the US, which imposes sanctions on any country it chooses, but the members of the grouping had firmly expressed their readiness for transactions, trade, and cooperation independently of a totalitarian state. “We have gathered here to assist each other, find solutions, and offer mutual support so that we can stand up against this hegemony and unilateralism,” he added.
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