Pezeshkian rejects U.S. pressure

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran will not bow to US pressure or what he called bullying aimed at forcing the country into surrender. Speaking in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Pezeshkian told Indian businesspeople, religious leaders, and intellectuals that the United States does not want an independent Iran and is trying to impose its own intentions on the country.

Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of claiming to defend human rights while carrying out attacks that he said have killed civilians and damaged schools, universities, residential areas, and other civilian infrastructure. He rejected accusations that Iran is a terrorist state, asking how Iran could be called terrorist while, in his words, children, scientists, and ordinary people were being killed and civilian institutions were being destroyed.

He said that if the adversaries wanted war, they should target military sites instead of people’s homes, livelihoods, water, food, bread, and communications. Pezeshkian said such pressure is designed to weaken the public and force Iranians into submission, but insisted that the Iranian people will not surrender.

Pezeshkian also said the current pressure campaign includes stronger economic measures after what he described as failed war objectives. He said Iran’s position is based on human and ideological beliefs, and that the country sees itself as a supporter of the oppressed rather than a violator of rights.

He challenged the idea that any government has the right to dictate terms to others, saying Iran will not accept outside domination. Despite the costs, Pezeshkian said, Iran will continue to resist attempts to strip it of independence and prevent it from serving its own people.