TEHRAN – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a group of his country’s political activists during a televised interview that he does not think the United States would begin to move towards peace any time soon, adding that while Iran is not seeking war, it is always ready to fight one. 

The president who is known as some of the more lenient politicians in the country when it comes to engagement with the West made the remarks when asked about the possibility of a new war with Israel and Washington. U.S.-Israeli strikes hit Iran back in June for a period of 12 days, damaged Iran’s nuclear, military, and civilian infrastructure, and killed over 1,000 Iranians. Iran responded with barrages of missiles and drones that eventually forced Israeli and American leaders to back down and request a ceasefire.  

Washington said the aim of the war was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But a lack of evidence to support the claim, its conduct of the war and the rhetoric it employed at various points of the conflict suggest the true objective was the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Pezeshkian himself was targeted in an assassination attempt at least once during the 12-day war.

During the interview, Pezeshkian recalled a book he read as a student that talked about the Vietnam war, and perfectly encapsulated U.S. foreign policy.  “The U.S. is unwilling to relinquish its global interests, while sovereign nations and their people refuse to surrender their resources,” he explained, adding that Americans will “never stop these actions on their own.”

About half a year after taking office, Pezeshkian began to attend indirect talks with the United States to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. The June war broke out only days before the two sides were set to meet in Muscat for a sixth round of talks. Many now believe the U.S. was never genuine about diplomacy, and only pressured Iran to enter talks in order to make it think a war was not incoming.  

“Behind the beautiful, attractive image America projects lies a sinister reality – a face that, when you look closely, ruthlessly kills women, children, the elderly, and the sick. Yet these same people preach about ‘democracy’” the president stated. 

Pezeshkian said if Iranians unite and work together, it would be difficult for the U.S. to repeat its aggression. Nonetheless, Iran will always remain ready to defend itself. “We are not after war, and we’ve said that from day one, but we’re not afraid of war either.”

The Iranian leader extended his criticism to European nations, stating that they accuse Iran of violating agreements while engaging in breaches themselves. He specifically mentioned the so-called snapback mechanism, which allows signatories of the JCPOA to re-instate UN sanctions against Tehran should they find it non-compliant. Germany, France, and the UK notified the UN Security Council Thursday that they are invoking the mechanism, even though they have scrapped all of their own commitments for years, and also backed the recent strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

“We do not want snapback at all,” he said. “But it is questionable how some European countries, which themselves violate many international laws, now accuse us of not respecting frameworks. How can such claims be accepted from them?”

Pezeshkian said his primary focus is the preservation of Iranian unity, irrespective of any future steps taken by Western states.