Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian argued that President Donald Trump’s actions went against his image as a peacemaker, threatening to set the Middle East ablaze.
In an interview with NBC News while in town to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, Pezeshkian delivered a defiant message while denouncing Trump.
“We’re not afraid of war. We do not seek war. President Trump has said that this administration has come to create peace, but the path that they have embarked upon will set fire to the entire region,” he said.
“We have never started a war. We will never be starting any wars. But whomever attacks us, we will do our utmost to give them the strongest answer. We will certainly augment our capabilities on a daily basis so as to prevent anyone from attacking us,” Pezeshkian added.
The Iranian president also confirmed reports that he was wounded in an Israeli strike during June’s 12 Day War.
“It wasn’t anything special. We can just say that it was a hematoma formed in the region of the knee. We draw the needed liquid and blood, and after that, we got over it,” he said.
Pezeshkian used his time on the podium at the UNGA to excoriate Israel, calling the 12 Day War a “savage aggression.” He condemned Israel’s assassinations of Iranian leaders and targeting of infrastructure. The Iranian president was noticeably less critical of the United States in his address, however, reserving criticisms only for accusations that it was enabling Israel’s actions.
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Pezeshkian also used the occasion to reaffirm his country’s desire to never develop nuclear weapons, pointing to the Ayatollah’s fatwa against nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
Trump’s retaking of the White House saw a return to his maximum pressure campaign against Iran, seeking to economically strangle the country to force it to give up nuclear weapons and cease its power projection in the Middle East.
