Khamenei orders Iranian President Pezeshkian to end ‘no war, no peace’ status with US

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday (Nov 8) said that Tehran was willing to engage in diplomatic talks while making it clear that it would not bow to external pressure. Pezeshkian made the remarks citing an order from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. He said that the Supreme Leader has asked the Iranian officials to end the state of “neither war nor peace." Pezeshkian also said that Iran is ready to pursue dialogue on fair and equal terms, but would not surrender to coercion, Iranian news agency ISNA reported.

Also Read: Trump says new strikes on Iran 'highly unlikely'

“The Supreme Leader ordered us to end the situation of neither war nor peace,” Pezeshkian said. “We can talk with dignity and end the issue with dignity. We are people of dialogue and negotiation, and logic dictates that if we can get our rights through dialogue, we should not get ourselves involved in war. But we will not surrender to force and bullying,” he added. “In my speech to the UN General Assembly, I also emphasized that we are people of dialogue based on justice and on equal and fair terms, and we demand our rights, but we will not submit to force,” he further said.

Also Read: US opens new front against Iran, 'Iron Gate' targets land routes

Trump says new strikes on Iran ‘highly unlikely’

This comes after US President Donald Trump said that renewed “military strikes” on Iran won't be necessary, but claimed that the US military had 38 bridges in its sights "that we can knock down in literally one hour". The statement by Trump came despite US CENTCOM announcing the expansion of the naval blockade in the Persian Gulf to the land routes and Caspian Sea networks so that “nothing can get in or out of Iran.” “It depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement. The answer is highly unlikely it's going to be necessary. They’re a failing nation. It just came out, you saw this year, 301% inflation,” Trump said on Nov 8. However, he also maintained that the US military was ready to launch new strikes and “finish them (Iran) off." "I've got three aircraft carriers here," he said. "They're fully locked and loaded." "I hit them so hard. You don't know how hard I hit them," he said. "They want to make a deal so badly."