&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'We do not wish to continue. It's America that must choose': Iran president Pezeshkian calls on US to end war")
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran does not want to continue fighting the United States, arguing that Washington must decide whether to bring the conflict to an end. In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Pezeshkian said Iran remained open to resolving disputes through negotiations, despite taking a defiant stance at the United Nations a day earlier. "When we can resolve issues through dialog, we shouldn't resort to killing one another. But with the instigations conducted by Israel, they have imposed this war on us," he said in remarks translated by the broadcaster.
“But we do not wish to continue. It's America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not.” Pezeshkian also said Iran was prepared to reach an agreement with US President Donald Trump to end the conflict. He questioned why a previous agreement had collapsed shortly after being signed. "Why is it that within two weeks after the signing of an agreement, they chose to blow it up?" he said of the collapse of a shaky ceasefire.
The Iranian president said Tehran would be willing to negotiate if Washington pursued an agreement within international legal frameworks. “If the current American government, within international legal frameworks, wishes to reach an agreement, fine. If not, before the (US midterm) elections or after the elections, what difference does it make for us?” Pezeshkian's comments came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks in New York with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The discussions did not immediately produce a breakthrough.
Iran and the Houthis
Pezeshkian also addressed the conflict involving Yemen's Houthi movement, which Washington and its allies have accused Tehran of supporting. He rejected the suggestion that the Houthis take direct instructions from Iran, saying the group makes its own decisions. "The Houthis are responsible for their own actions. They don't take directions from us as those who are resisting in the region, based on the situations that have been imposed on them," Pezeshkian said, according to the broadcaster's translation. "We have contacts with them. There is no systematic relationship," he added.
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