Journalism of Courage
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that Iran wants peace but will not give in to pressure to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.
“We are willing to hold talks under international frameworks, but not if they say you can’t have nuclear science or the right to defend yourself with missiles or else we will bomb you,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying.
His remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump said that Iran had asked whether US sanctions against it could be lifted.
Pezeshkian said Iran was ready to live peacefully with other countries but would not accept being forced into one-sided conditions.
“We want to live in this world in peace and security, but not be humiliated,” he said. “It is not acceptable that they impose upon us whatever they want and we just serve them.”
Iran has repeatedly rejected calls to negotiate over its missile capabilities or to stop uranium enrichment on its own soil, which it says is for peaceful purposes.
Israel views Iran as a major security threat. But Iran maintains that its ballistic missiles, which can reach up to 2,000 kilometres, are meant only as a deterrent and for defence against the United States, Israel and other regional powers.
Tehran has consistently denied it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
