Tehran [Iran], March 9 : Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian criticised the United States and Israel over their ongoing military operations, asserting that Iran would not "bow easily" in the face of threats or aggression against the regime.
In a video shared by Reuters on Monday, Pezeshkian, speaking in Tehran, said external powers, referring to the US and Israel, were attempting to create divisions between Tehran and Arab countries but stressed that Iran seeks cooperative relations with its neighbours.
"The enemy wants us and the Islamic countries to be at war. They want to create division between us and them," the Iranian President said in the video posted by Reuters.
He added that Iran's long-standing policy has been to maintain strong ties with neighbouring nations, describing them as "brothers", while emphasising that Tehran would respond if its territory came under attack.
"If from any country they attack our soil and carry out aggression, naturally we are obliged to respond to them. When we respond to them, this does not mean that we have a dispute with that country," Pezeshkian said.
The Iranian President stressed that the country would not retreat under pressure, adding that the Iranian people would not back down in the face of threats.
"Our Iran, our country, will not bow easily in the face of bullying, in the face of oppression, in the face of aggression, and has not bowed, and it is not possible that our heroic nation will retreat easily in the face of threats that they make," he added.
His remarks come amid heightened tensions in West Asia as military operations and retaliatory actions involving Iran, the United States and Israel continue to escalate across the region, following the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in joint military strikes by the US and Israel on February 28. The strikes also killed several senior leaders of the Islamic Republic.
In retaliation, Tehran launched counter-strikes targeting American military bases in multiple Arab countries and Israeli assets across the region. Israel, along with the US, continued its strikes on Tehran, with Tel Aviv widening the conflict to Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militant groups.
Earlier on Sunday, Iran's Assembly of Experts, the clerical body responsible for selecting the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, announced the appointment of the late leader's son, 56-year-old cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, to the position.
The leadership transition marks a significant moment in Iran's political history, as Mojtaba Khamenei becomes the third supreme leader of the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution.
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