Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Oct 17: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday reiterated that his country does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, dismissing allegations to the contrary as a “lie” and accusing its opponents of spreading destructive propaganda against Tehran.
Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, according to a statement published on the Iranian president's office website.
“Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, and we consider the destructive propaganda against our country as a lie,” he said, citing the clear positions of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against the development of nuclear weapons, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Pezeshkian said Iran had always been ready for dialogue but would not accept pressure or coercion from the United States.
“They (the United States) think they can force us to surrender, but we will not acquiesce to coercion,” he said.
He also criticised US sanctions against Iran, alleging that they violated humanitarian frameworks, and described recent US-Israeli attacks on Iran as “unjustifiable and inhumane”.
Kobakhidze, meanwhile, stressed that Georgia opposed any form of foreign interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
In a separate meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Pezeshkian said Washington must recognise that Iran would not surrender and would continue engaging with the world from a position of strength, relying on its people and coordinating with neighbouring countries.
He said the United States and its sanctions had created problems for both Iran and the wider world, warning that the situation could deteriorate globally if Washington continued with the same approach.
Pezeshkian called on the US administration to pursue dialogue based on logic rather than resorting to force.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said the war with Iran would end very soon, predicting a rapid decline in global energy prices once the conflict was over. He also reiterated that Tehran would not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Arizona for an election rally in Montana, Trump linked the anticipated end of the conflict to falling oil prices and an improvement in the US economy.
“And Iran will end very shortly. It's gonna be over very shortly, and your energy prices will fall very rapidly, very fast,” Trump said.