 "Iran not seeking nuclear weapons but won’t back down on 'legitimate rights', says Iran President Pezeshkian")
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday said that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons but will continue to defend its “legitimate rights,” as a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel took hold after 12 days of fighting.
“We expect you to explain to them, in your dealings with the United States, that the Islamic Republic of Iran is only seeking to assert its legitimate rights,” IRNA news agency quoted Pezeshkian as saying during a phone call with United Arab Emirates President Mohammed bin Zayed.
Pezeshkian said that Israel and the US “cannot impose unjust aspirations by force”.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran was forced into the military conflict to defend itself, and I hope that we will never be forced to fight again,” Pezeshkian said.
“It has never sought to acquire nuclear weapons and does not seek them,” he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency, adding that Iran was “ready to resolve the issues… at the negotiating table”.
The conflict between Israel and Iran, two longstanding regional adversaries, escalated with Israeli strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and killing several nuclear scientists as well as senior military officials.
On Sunday, Israel’s close ally, the United States, carried out its own unprecedented strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
The hostilities erupted just two days before Iran and the U.S. were scheduled to resume talks over Tehran’s nuclear program.
At the center of the dispute is Iran’s uranium enrichment — a process Tehran insists is a “non-negotiable” right, while Washington has labeled it a “red line.”
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