Iran will no longer attack neighboring countries – Pezeshkian

The states won’t be targeted unless the Islamic Republic is hit from their territory, the Iranian president has said

Tehran has decided to stop attacking neighboring countries and has no intention to invade them, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said, adding that the Islamic Republic would not surrender under pressure.

In a televised address, Pezeshkian apologized to the countries of the region and said Iran respected their sovereignty.

The US-Israeli war against Iran has entered its second week, with uncertainty growing over when hostilities might end. US President Donald Trump demanded Tehran's “unconditional surrender,” while Israel continued attacks against targets in the Islamic Republic and Lebanon.

Pezeshkian said the country’s Interim Leadership Council had approved a decision that no missile strikes would be carried out against regional states unless an attack on Iran originated from their territory.

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Early on Saturday, missiles were seen flying towards Israel after the IDF said it had identified launches from Iran.
Explosions were heard as Israeli air defenses activated to intercept the incoming fire. Shortly after the barrage, the country’s military said it had begun a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Washington and West Jerusalem have framed their first attacks on Iran as preemptive measures aimed at destroying its uranium enrichment and ballistic missile programs. The Islamic Republic insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and has denounced the strikes as entirely unprovoked.

Moscow has condemned the US-Israeli strikes as a “premeditated and unprovoked act of aggression” aimed at toppling a government that “refused to yield to the dictates of force and hegemonic pressure.”

The US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said. Tehran’s retaliatory attacks have killed 11 people in Israel, while at least six American service members have also been killed.