Iran in ‘all-out war’ with West, but will come through: Pezeshkian
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran was locked in an “all-out war” with the West and Israel aimed at squeezing the country through sanctions, but would fight back “with full force.”
“We are in an all-out war with the United States, Israel and Europe. They do not want our country to stand on its feet,” Pezeshkian said in an interview published on Saturday on the website of Iran’s Leader, khamenei.ir.
He said the conflict was “much more complex and harder” than the war Iraq imposed on the country in the 1980s.
“In this war, from every angle, they are encircling us, they are putting us under pressure and constraint, they are creating problems…, [and] they are blocking our sales, our exchanges and our trade,” Pezeshkian said.
His remarks appeared to refer to unilateral US sanctions and United Nations sanctions that were reimposed after three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal triggered the so-called snapback mechanism in late October, a move that has made Iran’s trade with other countries more difficult.
Pezeshkian, however, pledged that Iran would overcome the pressure.
“With full force, we will get past these problems, the sanctions and the pressures they exert,” he said.
The president said his government could not resolve the challenges on its own and called on all power centers in the country to help.
“It is impossible that if we stand together, they can bring us down,” he pointed out.
Referring to the Israeli-US aggression on Iran in June, Pezeshkian said the Iranian Armed Forces had become “stronger” “in terms of equipment” since then.
He warned that if Iran were attacked again, the aggressors would face “a more decisive response.”
During the Israeli aggression, which lasted 12 days, several Iranian military facilities as well as civilian locations were hit by airstrikes. Iran responded by firing hundreds of missiles and launching drones toward the occupied territories, causing heavy damage.
The US, which had joined Israel by striking Iranian nuclear sites during the campaign, was eventually forced to announced a cease-fire to stave off further defeats.