Baghdad: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of opting for “aggression, threats, and economic warfare” amid the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
He said Iran was ready for dialogue based on “credible guarantees”.
According to Al Jazeera, speaking at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, Araghchi said, “The United States chose the opposite path: aggression, threats, assassination, and economic warfare, with blatant disregard for international law and the United Nations Charter.”
He added that Iran “does not accept coercion, threats, or intimidation, and will not relinquish its sovereign rights under pressure… But it remains ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and credible guarantees.”
Araghchi also met Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the OIC meeting, IRNA reported. He accused the US of “repeatedly disrupting” diplomatic processes.
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would not “bow down to the excesses of aggressor countries”.
Earlier, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed that ending hostilities across all fronts was essential to achieving lasting peace in the region. He warned that continued fighting in any area would prolong the wider conflict.
The IRNA news agency reported, citing Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen television network, that Khatibzadeh said Iran remained committed to ending the Israeli war on Lebanon and had secured this objective in the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, which Iran and the United States signed in mid-June this year. He said Lebanon was among the key issues discussed between Iran and the US, adding that he had sought to bring the two sides closer during his visit to Beirut.
Iran's parliament has approved Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi's appointment as the country's new defence minister.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) expressed confidence that the ongoing war with Iran would end “very quickly”, claiming that the conclusion of hostilities would bring down energy costs for American consumers.
Addressing a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Kentucky, Trump linked the outcome of the conflict in West Asia directly to domestic petrol prices, promising that fuel costs would plummet once operations concluded.
“It's going to end very quickly. When it ends, your gas prices are going to be lower than what they were before,” Trump said.