'WE ARE READY...': Iranian President Pezeshkian warns of 'more devastating' response to Israel, issues BIG statement on nuclear activity

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday (June 21) that his country's response to continued Israeli "aggression" will be "more devastating", as fighting in West Asia continued for the ninth day. He also said that his country will not halt nuclear activity "under any circumstances." This comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with European counterparts in an attempt to prevent an escalation of the ongoing situation.

"Our response to the continued aggression of the Zionist regime will be more devastating," said Pezeshkian during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency. "We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, however, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances," Pezeshkian added.

Iran-Israel faceoff at UNHRC

A day earlier, Iran’s foreign minister Araghchi condemned the Israeli attacks against the Islamic Republic as a “betrayal of diplomacy" with the US and called the attacks on nuclear facilities “grave war crimes”. He added that Israel's strike on Iran on June 13 was to derail Tehran and Washington's efforts to craft a “promising agreement” on the Iranian nuclear program. Araghchi, making his first trip abroad since the strikes began, denounced Israel’s attack as an “outrageous act of aggression.”

In response, Israel’s United Nations ambassador Danny Danon slammed Tehran for seeking help from the international community. Slamming Iran, Danon said, “How dare you write five letters last week to this assembly to demand a session and ask the international community for sympathy? How dare you ask the international community to protect you from the consequences of your own genocidal agenda? You are not a victim. You are not even a diplomat. You are a wolf pretending to be a diplomat, and we are done pretending otherwise.”