Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said yesterday it was time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States because Tehran appeared to be in a stronger position than Washington.
Talks between the decades-old foes remain on hold, with both sides in the war started by the US and Israel in February locked in a stalemate. Tehran is keeping the key Strait of Hormuz partially shut and Washington is persisting with a naval counter-blockade of Iran.
“It is better that we bring the war to an end now as we are in a position of power and dignity,” Pezeshkian said in a meeting with doctors. “The whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasises that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world.”
Pezeshkian also defended a memorandum of understanding agreed with the US in June aimed at ending the war, claiming it did not signal a defeat for Tehran. “They cannot find even a single clause in this agreement that indicates capitulation. All the commitments concern the other side,” he said.
His remarks come weeks after Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the deal to end the war despite having “different views”.
Hardline lawmakers in Iran’s parliament have also criticised the government over the deal, accusing it of giving concessions to the US, mostly over the re-opening of the strategic Hormuz Strait. —AFP