Pezeshkian: Iran Will Respond Resolutely to Further War

The president warns Washington that any renewed attack will draw a “strong and resolute” response, declaring that Iran “remains steadfast and has become more cohesive.”

NEW YORK — President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a stark warning to the United States, declaring that Iran will respond “strongly and resolutely” if Washington seeks to continue its war of aggression, while stressing that Iran did not choose the war.

“We never started a war, but if they wish to keep fighting with us, we will respond strongly and resolutely,” Pezeshkian said in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Thursday on the sidelines of his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

“Without any legal justification or framework, they attacked us, assassinated our Leader, our scientists are military commanders, government officials, and our children,” Pezeshkian said.

Pezeshkian was asked directly whether Iran was choosing war or a deal. His answer was unequivocal.

“We do not choose war. The war was imposed on us. We do not seek war,” he said. “We did not choose war. The war was imposed on us. We do not seek war. Rather, whenever they attack us, we’re forced to defend ourselves.”

He said Iran has been forced to defend itself whenever it has come under attack, and rejected pressure aimed at forcing Iran to surrender outside the framework of international law.

“And today the pressures that they keep imposing on us are to force us to surrender outside the legal framework of international law, which is impossible.”

The Iranian president said it is America that must choose whether it wants to end the war or not. “But we do not wish to continue. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

He described the central obstacle in negotiations with the U.S. as the “deep mistrust” that has developed between the sides, linking it to the fate of the 2015 nuclear agreement. Iran had previously reached an agreement with the United States before Trump withdrew from it unilaterally in May 2018.

“Your president tore that up,” Pezeshkian said. He questioned how the two sides could resolve outstanding disputes if they could not establish trust through dialogue.

“If we’re unable to trust one another within the framework of a dialogue, how can we hope that these issues will ever be resolvable?”

He flatly denied that Tehran wants a nuclear bomb when asked point-blank.

“Not at all. Not at all. Our martyred, esteemed supreme leader had announced several times that from a religious decree, it is unholy. It is illegal,” he said.

He pointed to the failed memorandum of understanding signed by himself and President Donald Trump in June that was intended to halt hostilities and establish a framework for a broader U.S.-Iran agreement.

“We have no problems. We did reach an agreement with your president,” Pezeshkian said. “That agreement was signed, and based on that, we are willing and still wish to move forward.”

“And the framework was agreed upon. We had not closed the Strait of Hormuz; it was open, without any legal justification or framework,” he said.

President Pezeshkian noted that the Strait of Hormuz was fully open before the start of the terrorist U.S.-Israeli aggression on Iran. He said that the restrictions imposed by Iran over the strategic energy chokepoint were a response to the aggression and also the illegal blockade imposed by the U.S. against Iranian vessels.

“The problem is that within the strait, those who have been responsible for a lifetime for a strait, they are forbidden to move their vessels through the waterway; then of course, we will not recognize that right for other vessels.”

“Now America is forbidding our transit through that waterway. For what reason? Based on what foundation? Isn’t navigation supposed to be free?”

When asked whether Iran would stop arming Hezbollah and Yemen’s Ansarullah as part of a deal, and whether it would tell the Yemeni group to stop attacking Saudi Arabia, Pezeshkian said Ansarullah acts independently.

“Yemenis are responsible for their own actions,” he said. “They don’t take directions from us.”

He described Ansarullah as a resistance force in the region and said its actions are related to the situations they face. “We have contacts with them. There is no systematic relationship,” Pezeshkian added.

Fox News questioned Pezeshkian about Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei. Pezeshkian said he met Ayatollah Khamenei in person almost a month earlier, and spent about seven hours with him.

Asked whether the Leader was healthy and able to govern, Pezeshkian responded: “Very much so, completely.”

Pezeshkian also addressed U.S. military strikes and increasing secondary sanctions, saying Iran will continue resisting Washington’s campaign.

“This is something that has been the doing of the United States,” he said. “We will keep resisting. We will find ways, and the life of our country will continue. We will remain.”

“Yes, we do have economic issues, certainly. But in order to remain, we will go through any hardship and endure,” he said of Iran.

“If America thinks that they can keep sanctioning us, we have nothing to do, nor do we consider any type of American elections. If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?”

He touched on Trump’s arrogant speech to the UN General Assembly, labeling Iranians as terrorists while Iran has been the target of terrorism.

“The American president announced that we’re terrorists, but in reality everyone can easily distinguish that we’ve been the victim and the targets of terrorism, and then they say no, we didn’t,” Pezeshkian said. “They deny the obvious truth. But yet they accuse us of such.”

He repeated that Iran does not want the war to continue, while blaming Israel for helping provoke the war and putting responsibility on Washington to bring it to an end.

“We will stand resolutely to defend ourselves. We never sought war. We do not seek war,” he said.

“I deeply believe that humans should not cause the death of another human. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us,” Pezeshkian said. “But we do not wish to continue. It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.”

The Iranian president also rejected blatant lies that tens of thousands of people were killed during the armed riots that erupted in Iran in January.

Pezeshkian said Iranian authorities have published identifying information for 3,015 people killed during the riots, challenging absurd claims by Trump that the death toll had reached 70,000.

“If there is any additional information, such as 40,000 or 70,000, someone should furnish proof,” he said, adding about 500 of those killed were members of the security and police forces.

Pezeshkian distinguished between peaceful protests and armed violence, stressing that the introduction of firearms transformed the unrest.

“Regular citizens and individuals lost their lives,” he said, adding that the new element was “the firepower from the rioters.”

He also referred to statements by Trump regarding the arming of groups involved in the riots, saying the objective had gone beyond supporting street demonstrations.

According to Pezeshkian, the United States and Israel had expected the unrest to quickly bring down Iran’s government. “They thought that it would be a three-day affair and that the government would fall,” he said.

It did not. Iran, Pezeshkian said, “remains steadfast and has become more cohesive.”