TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of “neither war nor peace.”
In a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday, he said members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council believed the memorandum represented the best possible agreement based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.
“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”
The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding that US President Donald Trump signed in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. That period ended last week, but the two sides remain far apart, with no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.
Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Iran’s economic prospects, saying the country could not attract investment in this stalled phase.
“Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk,” he said. “We have to remove this risk from the country.”
Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade.
Pezeshkian acknowledged that his country’s citizens face “many problems,” after the United States launched a new wave of sanctions seeking to further isolate its economy.
“I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,” Pezeshkian said.
Pezeshkian said that, thanks to Trump, Iran was “in a full-scale economic, military and security war.”
“He says he is imposing the most crushing and terrifying sanctions on Iran,” Pezeshkian said.
Iran security chief warns neighbors against possible economic sanctions
Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council warned Tehran’s neighbors against joining the new US effort to hurt Iran’s economy.
“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” Mohsen Rezaei said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.
Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.
Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz — if neighbors join what he described as the economic war against Iran.
Trump in the past week has vowed to increase Iran’s pain by imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation. Iran has lived under sanctions for years.
