Iranian President Defends US Deal as Path to End Stalled Conflict, Security Chief Threatens Retaliation
Iran's president said a June memorandum with the United States offers the best route out of the ongoing war, while the newly appointed security chief warned neighboring states against supporting U.S. sanctions.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June provides the most viable way for Tehran to move beyond a state of "neither war nor peace," adding that the agreement contains no provisions that amount to capitulation. He emphasized that the country's policies will follow the guidance of the supreme leader.
The pact opened a 60-day window for negotiations on ending the conflict and reaching a nuclear accord, a deadline that expired last week without a breakthrough, particularly on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane.
Mohsen Rezaei, newly appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council, warned neighboring countries that joining the United States' new economic pressure campaign would make them "enemies" and pledged a "seismic" retaliation, including targeting alternative oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf.
The United States is expected to announce additional sanctions against Iran, and a multinational coalition reported no confirmed attacks in the Strait of Hormuz over the past two days, though shipping traffic remains reduced.
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is scheduled to travel to Tehran on Monday as part of Islamabad’s effort to de-escalate tensions and encourage a return to negotiations, according to Iranian officials.
In related regional developments, an Israeli settler was arrested for beating a Palestinian man in the West Bank, a 4-year-old child was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, and Israeli forces continue to pursue a suspect in a recent stabbing attack in the eastern West Bank.