DUBAI: Iran’s president apologized on Wednesday to “all those affected” by the nationwide protest and bloody crackdown that followed it. President Masoud Pezeshkian also denounced unspecified “Western propaganda” surrounding the protests.
Pezeshkian said he knew the “great sorrow” felt by people in the protests and crackdown, without directly acknowledging the hand Iranian security forces had in the bloodshed.
“We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” Pezeshkian said. “We are not seeking confrontation with the people.”
Pezeshkian also insisted that his nation was “not seeking nuclear weapons … and are ready for any kind of verification.” His comments came during a speech at a commemoration marking Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran is in the midst of negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program.
It remains unclear though if a nuclear deal will be reached. President Donald Trump has threatened to send another aircraft carrier to pressure Iran.
Meanwhile, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile.