Iran is ready to de-escalate tensions with Israel if there is a mutual commitment, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday.
“We’re willing to set aside all our weapons as long as Israel is willing to do the same,” Pezeshkian told reporters ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York, adding, “We’re not seeking to destabilize the region.”
Pezeshkian, making his first appearance at the UN’s annual gathering, is scheduled to speak on Tuesday while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the summit two days later, though his travel plans are not yet finalised.
The Iranian president’s remarks come as tensions with Israel escalate following Tehran’s accusation that Israel was behind a large-scale explosion involving pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, which killed several people and injured thousands, including Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. Iran has threatened to retaliate.
The attack, which Israel has neither confirmed nor denied, targeted members of the Hezbollah militant group, an ally of Iran.
The Islamic Republic also supports Hamas, which is engaged in conflict with Israel in Gaza; both groups are designated as terrorist organizations by the US.
Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea since last year.
Israel and Hezbollah are locked in a continuing exchange of rocket fire, raising fears that an escalation could spark a full-scale regional war involving the US and Iran, which considers Hezbollah its most significant allied militant group in the Middle East.
President Pezeshkian stated that while Iran seeks peace, it will defend against injustices toward its allies, who independently decide on their military actions.
“They don’t take orders from anyone. It’s not like Yemenis are waiting for us to tell them what to do or what not to do.
“If a war erupts in the region, it would serve no one’s interest. We don’t want to fight. It’s Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region,” he said.
Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran had no prior knowledge of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, and stated that both the US and Israel are aware of this.
The attacks by the militant group killed around 1,200 people and abducted about 250 others. In response, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed approximately 41,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Seen as a reformer within the narrow confines of Iranian politics, Pezeshkian has expressed a willingness to resume negotiations on Iran’s broken nuclear deal with the West and intends to push for the removal of US economic sanctions.
He stated that Iran is prepared to return to the original accord and continues to work toward the goals outlined in that agreement.
Pezeshkian, who assumed office in July following the death of his hard-line predecessor in a helicopter crash, also refuted US allegations that Iran has provided weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
“We do not approve of Russian aggression against Ukraine. We have not and we will not supply them with any ballistic missiles,” he said.
AFP