Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that his country will refrain from attacking neighbouring states unless attacks are launched against Iran from their territory, while also rejecting Trump’s unconditional surrender demand.
“The temporary leadership council announced yesterday that there will be no more attacks on neighbouring countries and no missile launches unless attacks originate from those countries against Iran,” Pezeshkian said in a televised address to the Iranian people.
He also apologised to neighbouring countries amid rising regional tensions, saying Iran has “no intention of invading other countries.”
Pezeshkian also dismissed expectations that Iran would surrender unconditionally, saying that those who nurse such hopes “will take their dreams to the grave.”
On February 28, Iran launched missiles and drones toward Israel and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets. Some of the attacks have caused casualties and major damage to civilian sites, including ports and residential buildings.
However, Iran claims it has only wsihed to target US military infrastructure across the region. Many Arab countries host US military bases and ports, also bases of operation for western intelligence groups are known to reside in Middle Eastern Arab states.
Tehran says the attacks came in response to a US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that has killed hundreds of people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and top military officials.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
Elsewhere, US President Donald Trump said Friday that American airstrikes against Iran are going “very well,” and Tehran’s military capabilities have been largely destroyed.
“In Iran, we’re doing very well. How would you score it from zero to 10? I said I’d give it a 12 to a 15,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone. Two sets of their leaders are gone. They’re down to their third set,” he said.
Trump also claimed that Iran’s air force had been “wiped out entirely,” adding, “Think of it. They had 32 ships. All 32 are at the bottom of the ocean.”
Earlier, Trump had called for the unconditional surrender of Tehran, a claim which has been rebuked by Iranian leaders.
Iran’s IRGC forces remain defiant amid intense US/Israeli attacks on key military infrastructure, showing no sign that Iran’s ability to fight has been significantly diminished.
The spokesman for the General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces issues a stark warning to the senior authorities in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq against cooperating with the United States and the Israeli regime against the Islamic Republic.
Speaking during a televised interview on Friday, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi cautioned the officials that any cooperation with Washington or Tel Aviv would bear severe consequences.
“If you cooperate with the United States and the Zionist regime, we will crush you; you will be trampled under our feet and will never enjoy security again,” he said.
The spokesman also warned against allowing terrorist groups to use the region’s territory as a corridor.
“If the leaders of Iraq’s northern region open a corridor for these [terrorist] groups, we will strike all the infrastructure and facilities of this region; we will show no mercy to our enemies.”
