Iranian President: Tehran Ready for Dialogue under International Law

Tehran/Baghdad (ANTARA) - Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian held a telephone conversation with Iraq’s Prime Minister-elect Ali al-Zaidi on Tuesday (5/5). In the discussion, Pezeshkian stated that Iran is ready to engage in dialogue within the framework of international law, but will not yield to threats of violence. Pezeshkian explained that “our issue is that on one side, the United States (US) applies a policy of maximum pressure against our country, and on the other side, the US expects Iran to sit at the negotiating table and ultimately surrender to its unilateral demands … such conditions are impossible to realise,” according to a statement published by Pezeshkian’s office. He conveyed that Iran fundamentally does not consider war and insecurity as beneficial options. Pezeshkian stressed that Iran must not sacrifice its nuclear technology. He also noted that the US seems to say that Iran must not have a nuclear industry and imposes additional pressure on Iran by making excessive demands. The Iranian President added that in all previous negotiations, Iran has been fully prepared to provide, in accordance with the international regulatory framework and global monitoring, everything deemed necessary under international norms to ensure that its nuclear activities are peaceful. In his statement, Al-Zaidi expressed Iraq’s readiness to act as a mediator between Iran and the US to defuse the regional crisis, according to a statement from Al-Zaidi’s media office. According to the Iraqi statement, both parties also agreed to exchange official visits in the near future to strengthen bilateral relations. On 28 February, Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Tehran and other cities in Iran, killing Iran’s then-supreme leader Ali Khamenei, as well as several senior commanders and civilians. Iran retaliated with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel as well as US bases and assets in the Middle East. A ceasefire was reached between the conflicting parties on 8 April, followed by peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 11 and 12 April, which ended without an agreement.