Pezeshkian: Iran ready to negotiate, will never bow to bullying

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is ready to negotiate with the West and remains committed to all international regulations, but will never bow to pressure.

He made the remarks on Monday while addressing Iranian and foreign reporters during his first press conference since he took office late August.

“We are not in conflict with anyone,” the Iranian president stated.

He said that his administration will negotiate with the West on contentious issues and expand relations with neighboring countries to improve the economy and achieve long-term objectives.

However, he added that the United States first needs to prove it is prepared to negotiate in good faith and is committed to its international obligations. The president noted that so far the Americans have "closed all avenues to us."

Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran is committed to the agreements it signed with the US and Europe. “We do not seek atomic weapons, but they (the West) are threatening us and say Iran should not possess any missile.”

He said Iran will pursue every possible path leading to the removal of obstacles.

At the first step, the president said, Iran will create common views and language with its neighboring countries to establish a region full of peace and tranquility.

It is the foreign powers which are hindering the establishment of peace in the region by creating economic, cultural and ethnic conflicts, Pezeshkian said.

He underscored the need for Iran to remain strong, saying, “We need defense power to maintain security of our people and country.”

Iran resolute on implementing 25-year partnership agreement with China

Pezeshkian hailed Iran’s relations with China and said Tehran is determined to implement the 25-year partnership agreement with Beijing.

“We have very good relations with China and a large part of our relationship is with China, Russia and the neighboring countries.”

Iran and China signed the landmark 25-year partnership agreement in March 2021 in a bid to strengthen their long-standing economic and political alliance.

The deal, which had been announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Tehran back in 2016, sets the outlines of Sino-Iranian cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the period in question.

Pezeshkian said China took a “major step” in mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume mutual relations and creating coordination in the region.

He said Iran’s cooperation with regional countries via connecting corridors can improve the access of Iran and China to the respective markets through the Silk Road.

The Iranian president described China as a “strategic” partner and vowed to further develop ties between the two countries.

UN General Assembly 2024

The Iranian president said his attendance at the 2024 meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York will be “to defend the rights of our people because we do favor peace and not war.”

Asked about the possibility of his meeting with the US president, Pezeshkian said the United States must prove its sincerity in practice. The Iranian president said Tehran should see whether or not Washington is committed to its obligations.

“Americans must show that they are not hostile to us. We did not set up bases around their country and did not impose sanctions on them. Rather, we are brothers with the American people,” Pezeshkian stated.

‘West knows Iran has not sent missiles to Yemen’

Pezeshkian dismissed claims that Iran has provided Yemen with hypersonic missiles or the technology to manufacture the weaponry.

“It will take one week for a person to go to Yemen. How did the missile go there [to Yemen] and no-one saw it? In Iran, we do not have the hypersonic missiles of the type used by Yemen’s Ansarullah against Israel.”

Pezeshkian said it has been a gradual consolidation of Yemen’s resistance and the Yemenis did not get where they are now over the past months of Israel’s campaign of genocide in Gaza.

“We have the missile power but we do not give missiles to Yemen. Before the war [in Gaza], Yemen had acquired the technology to manufacture missiles and was producing them.”

Iran and Yemen have a common stance in rejecting the Israeli regime, he said.

The Iranian president slammed the West’s inaction toward Israel’s barbarism in Gaza and urged the international community not to allow one group, backed by super powers, to kill innocent people.

Iran welcomes improvement of ties with Egypt

Asked about Iran’s policy on relations with Egypt, Pezeshkian said his administration will initiate contacts with senior Egyptian officials as soon as possible.

“We will welcome relations with the friendly and brotherly country of Egypt.”

Pezeshkian underscored the importance of facilitating travel for people living in Muslim countries, which, he said, will lead to common viewpoints and the establishment of joint markets.

Enhanced unity among Muslims will help defend their rights, the Iranian president noted.

He also reaffirmed the need to settle differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia and said he welcomes any measure which will bring the two Muslim countries closer together.

Muslims must foster unity to make the Israeli regime understand that it has no right to kill children, women and the elderly, the Iranian president said. “If we join hands, Israel will not dare to do this.”

No missile deliveries to Russia

The president reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to avoiding the escalation of conflict in the region, asserting, “We do not wish to shore up any war; it is the Western powers that seek to do so.”

Pezeshkian said that since his administration took office, there had been no delivery of missiles to Russia, as alleged by the US and its allies. However, he emphasized that relations with Russia are ongoing.

“Our view in all wars is that every country should maintain its sovereignty, and no nation should invade another,” he said.

As to why Russia entered Ukraine, the president suggested European countries should be held responsible for violating their treaties with Moscow and disrupting the borders.

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