TEHRAN - President Masoud Pezeshkian says the U.S. is backing Israel's war against Iran under the illusion that they can impose their demands on Iran under pressure.

"Now Americans are backing the attacks of this regime against Iran and think that they can impose their demands on us through pressure," Masoud Pezeshkian said in a telephone call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani late on Saturday.

Israel started an illegal and surprise war on Iran on the early hours of June 13, killing a number of Iranian scientists, military commanders and civilians. Iran has responded to the aggression by hitting sensitive centers in Tel Aviv and Haifa with precision-guided missiles.  

The United States under the Donald Trump administration has been asking Iran to abandon its nuclear enrichment program.  Iran has rebuffed the demand, saying as a NPT signatory it has inalienable right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.  

In his first administration, Trump ditched the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and imposed the strictest sanctions on Iran under his "maximum pressure" campaign against the Islamic Republic. Trump diid this despite the fact that the IAEA was repeatedy confirming that Iran was fully loyal to the terms of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).     

 Qatar condemns Israel's cowardly act against Iran

In the phone call,  the emir of Qatar said his country condemns Israel's "cowardly aggression against Iran in the strongest terms" and believes that Iran has full right to respond to the attack.     

The emir also said Qatar "stnads on the side of its brothers in Iran" and backs Tehran's doctorne to resovle disputes through dialouge and establish peace and security in the region. 

Sheikh Tamim also said his country will inform other countries of Iran's position.