TEHRAN (Dunya News/Reuters) – Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that its temporary leadership council has approved the suspension of attacks against neighbouring countries unless an attack on Iran came from those countries.
In a statement, he apologised to the neighbouring states for the recent attacks, emphasizing that Iran has no intention to target other nations.
Pezeshkian also stressed that Iran will not surrender to the United States or Israel, saying that any desire of the enemy for Iran to give up its weapons “will remain unfulfilled.”
The remarks follow recent Iranian strikes on US military bases in neighboring countries in retaliation for American and Israeli attacks, which also resulted in martyrdom of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and civilian causalities.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said there would be no deal struck with Iran except "unconditional surrender," a week after launching war with Israel against Tehran.
"After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction," Trump said in a social media post, adding that they would work to boost Iran's economy.
Trump told Reuters on Thursday that he wants to be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
Earlier, Trump said it would be a "waste of time" currently to consider sending US ground troops into Iran, dismissing the Iranian foreign minister's warning that such a move would spell disaster for invaders.
"It's a waste of time. They've lost everything. They've lost their navy. They've lost everything they can lose," he told NBC by telephone, adding that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's earlier remark that Iran was ready for a US or Israeli ground invasion was a "wasted comment."
Trump also indicated he is keen to see Iran's leadership structure removed and that "we want to go in and clean out everything" quickly.
"We don't want someone who would rebuild over a 10-year period," he said. He added that he had ideas for a new leader but declined to name anyone.
Heavy attacks were reported in Tehran on Friday after Israel said it was hitting "regime infrastructure" in a "new phase" of the war it launched with the US against Iran.
The violence has also spread to the Indian Ocean, where a US submarine sank an Iranian naval ship off the coast of Sri Lanka.