TEHRAN - President Masoud Pezeshkian said talks with the United States are aimed at preserving national interests from a position of power.

“The goal is to realize the rights of the Iranian people and defend national interests with authority,” Pezeshkian said on Sunday at a meeting on post-war reconstruction.

He stressed that negotiations with Washington do not amount to “surrendering to the enemy.”

Pezeshkian also stressed the importance of maintaining national unity, strengthening public trust, and ensuring continued public participation in the reconstruction process.

The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28. An April 8 ceasefire between Tehran and Washington paused the war. Nonetheless, the two sides have yet to reach a deal to bring a permanent end to the conflict.

In response to the US-Israel aggression, Iran dealt severe blows to US bases in the Persian Gulf region in addition to hitting strategic targets inside Israel. Iran has also asserted full control over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says it is open to diplomacy, but the US must accept its conditions, which include guarantees of non-aggression, lifting a US blockade on Iranian ports that was imposed in mid-April, recognizing its peaceful nuclear rights, and lifting illegal sanctions.

President Donald Trump claims that Iran wants a deal because the US military has destroyed Iran’s military capabilities. Such claims have been rejected by US media reports. According to a recent report by The Washington Post, a confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers concludes Iran retains significant ballistic missile capabilities despite weeks of intense US and Israeli bombardment. Citing a US official, the report said, Iran retains about 75 percent of its prewar inventory of mobile launchers and roughly 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpiles. The official added that there is evidence Iran has been able to recover and reopen almost all of its underground storage facilities, repair some damaged missiles, and even assemble new missiles that were nearly complete when the war began.