Iran's President tells Gulf states there is no option but to retaliate

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian delivered a speech to Iran’s neighbouring states. Pezeshkian said that Iran is seeking to avoid war through diplomacy, but the United States–Israel attack leaves Iran with no option but to retaliate. ‘We respect your sovereignty,’ Pezeshkian said in two separate posts in Arabic and Persian on X, cited by Al Jazeera, on Thursday (5/3/2026). Iran believes that security in the region must be achieved through collective endeavour, he added. His comments come after Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani spoke by telephone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who rejected claims that Tehran was only targeting US interests in the country. A statement from Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said that Mohammed firmly rejected Iran’s claim that Iranian forces had targeted US assets in the Gulf state and not civilian infrastructure. During the telephone conversation, the Qatari PM stressed that ‘the facts on the ground clearly show that the attack affected civilian areas and settlements within Qatar, including around Hamad International Airport, vital infrastructure, and industrial zones hosting LNG production facilities,’ according to the statement. ‘These actions constitute a flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and the principles of international law,’ he added.