'Will respond to pressure': Iran warns US
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Tehran: The newly elected president in Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, warned the US that Tehran would not "respond to pressure". However, he asserted that his government would create "balance in relations with all countries, aligning with national interests and prerequisites for peace, the Associated Press reported.
Pezeshkian wrote "My Message To The New World" in the country's state-owned Tehran Times late Friday, praising the latest presidential election that "demonstrated remarkable stability" and vowing to uphold "promises I made during my campaign."
Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, bested hard-liner former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to clinch July 5's runoff election to replace President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.
He said in his message his administration would "prioritise strengthening relations with our neighbours" and urged Arab countries to use "all diplomatic leverages" to push for a lasting cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that started October 7.
Iran has long supported the militant group Hamas, and Pezeshkian on Wednesday expressed his all-out support of "the Palestinian resistance" in a message to the group's chief, Ismail Haniyeh.
Pezeshkian, in the letter Friday, hailed his country's relations with Russia and China, which "consistently stood by us during challenging times."
In May 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — a nuclear agreement that also included Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. Since then, Western powers have accused the Islamic Republic of expanding its nuclear program and enriching uranium to an unprecedented 60 per cent level, near-weapons-grade levels. The US has issued severe, mainly economic, sanctions against Iran.
He addressed the US, underscoring his country's refusal to "respond to pressure," adding that Iran "entered the JCPOA in 2015 in good faith and fully met our obligations." Pezeshkian said the US backing out has inflicted "hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to our economy" and caused "untold suffering, death and destruction on the Iranian people — particularly during the Covid pandemic" due to sanctions.