Iran says not seeking war with Israel, vows response to strikes

Commuters drive past a billboard bearing pictures of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian (2-L), armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri (L) US President Joe Biden (2-R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in Vali-Asr square in Tehran on October 27, 2024. Agence France-Presse

TEHRAN — President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran did not seek war with Israel but was ready to deliver “an appropriate response” to strikes this week on Iranian military sites.

“We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, adding that Iran “will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime.”

On Saturday, Israel conducted air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran’s October 1 attack on Israel, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

READ: Iran warns will defend itself after Israeli strikes

Israel has warned Tehran against responding.

Pezeshkian blamed the soaring regional tensions on Israel’s “aggression” and US support for the country, which Tehran does not recognize.

“If the aggressions of the Zionist regime and its crimes continue, the tensions will spread,” said the Iranian president.

READ: Iran says US will bear ‘full responsibility’ for Israeli retaliation

Pezeshkian added that the United States had “promised to end the war in return for our restraint, but they did not keep their promise,” Pezeshkian added.

Iran has called for an end to the Gaza war, triggered by the October 7 attack on Israel last year, carried out by the Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Iran also backs other armed groups in the region, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah which has been fighting an all-out war with Israeli forces for the past month after a year of largely low-intensity exchanges.