Backing anti-Iran war amounts to complicity: Pezeshkian tells Macron
President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any involvement by other countries such as France in support of the aggressors would constitute complicity in the US-Israeli “unlawful” war against Iran.
In a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday night, Pezeshkian said all measures carried out by Iran had been in line with its right of self-defense.
He added that the United States and Israel launched the war in the midst of nuclear talks for the second time, a move which violated international law.
Pezeshkian warned that Iran would respond in kind to the US-Israeli strikes on civilian targets such as schools, hospitals and infrastructure.
“Such moves will only lead to further complications and intensification of the situation in the region. The Iranian nation, government and Armed Forces are determined to defend the country and the Establishment,” Pezeshkian reiterated.
The French president said Paris considered the ongoing war inconsistent with international law, adding that his country had no involvement in the conflict.
Macron added that France was in talks with some countries to control and prevent further escalation of tensions.
The US and Israel launched a war of military aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.
The attacks led to the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, as well as several military commanders. Hundreds of civilians, including women and children, have also been killed so far in the attacks by the US and Israel.
The Iranian Armed Forces began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.
US only tries to protect Israel
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday the security of regional states did not matter to the United States as it only made utmost efforts to protect Israel.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Baghaei said developments in the past days proved that the US military presence in the region did not bring security and stability but only spread insecurity and caused rifts among regional countries.
He once again called on all regional countries not to allow the US to abuse their territory and facilities, saying, “This demand is not just based on the principle of neighborliness but made on the basis of a known principle in international law.”
Commitment to humanitarian principles
The spokesman emphasized that the country’s Armed Forces remained committed to humanitarian principles and rules and morality.
However, he said, the opposite side had targeted Iranian civilians, including innocent children, in various cities since the outbreak of the war.
Baghaei added that the attacks on fuel storage facilities and an oil production transfer center in Tehran and the province of Alborz on Saturday were a crime against humanity and the environment and can even be listed as a genocidal crime as its consequences could have impacts on the next generations.
US audacity, irresponsibility ‘abhorrent’
Baghaei slammed US President Donald Trump’s lies in dealing with the Iranian nation and said the true meaning of “US help for Iran” is now clear to everyone.
He slammed the US “audacity, irresponsibility, crimes and killings of humans as abhorrent.”
This is a war between a side that seeks domination, destruction and massacre while Iran, on the other side, resists strongly in order to protect human dignity and its people in the face of the most vicious acts, he emphasized.
No missile fired at Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus
The spokesperson also rejected claims about Iran’s attacks on Turkey, Azerbaijan and Cyprus, saying that the country had not fired any missile into the three countries.
“We insist on maintaining relations based on neighborliness and friendship. The continuation of cordial ties based on mutual respect, including respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries is a principle for Iran,” Baghaei emphasized.