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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that Tehran has no intention of making concessions and stressed the need to move beyond what he called a “no war, no peace” situation, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.
Pezeshkian said Iranian officials were discussing almost daily how to move beyond the current situation and reach an understanding that would preserve Iran’s principles and values, while deterring adversaries from considering another attack.
He said war offered no solution, but prolonged uncertainty over whether fighting could resume was also taking an economic toll on the country.
Pezeshkian warned that investment would be difficult to attract as long as the threat of renewed conflict persisted.
He stressed the need to overcome the situation through logic while maintaining Iran’s strength.
The president also defended a recent memorandum with the United States, saying it contained no provision that amounted to capitulation or required Tehran to make concessions.
Iran and the United States signed the memorandum of understanding in June through Pakistani and Qatari mediation, ending hostilities that began in February and paving the way for negotiations toward a final agreement.
Talks have since stalled amid disputes over implementation of the memorandum and arrangements for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil and gas exports.
Meanwhile, Iran on Saturday warned countries against participating in the United States’ “economic war” against the Islamic Republic, saying they would be considered enemies.
Washington has pushed its allies to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s new campaign to isolate the Iranian economy as the war nears the six-month mark.
“We declare to all countries ... do not join the economic war waged by the United States,” Mohsen Rezai, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on state television.
“Any country participating in the imposition of economic restrictions against us is considered an enemy,” he added.
Rezai said that if those countries refused to “distance themselves” from the United States, Iran would “harm” their interests.
Rezai also insisted that Iran had more options in the war, claiming that “we have not yet attacked any American economic interests.”
“So far, we have only targeted military bases, but if they want to impose economic sanctions on us, the United States has oil and economic companies around Iran and elsewhere, and we will strike them,” Rezai said.
If Trump “takes action, our confrontation will be like an earthquake,” he added.
Washington has called on other governments to join efforts to isolate Iran’s economy, including Beijing, one of Tehran’s top strategic partners.
China has criticized the initiative, arguing that U.S. sanctions will not resolve the conflict in the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates, one of Iran’s major trading partners, announced Tuesday that it was suspending all trade and financial transactions with Tehran until further notice.
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