Pezeshkian demands end to ‘no war no peace’ situation
President to meet Putin in Moscow on Tuesday
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday reiterated the need to move beyond the current state of “no war no peace” so that the authorities can make plans in a “transparent and predictable environment” for the country.
“We need to move beyond ambiguity. For this reason, the martyred Leader ordered to go and get the job done” Pezeshkian said while addressing a ceremony to begin population census in the current Iranian year.
He was referring to the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, having agreed to negotiations with the United States aimed at ending the war against Iran.
But the Americans betrayed the negotiations by launching strikes on Iran, the Iranian president said, however, “I still believe that we must go and get out of the no war, no peace” situation.
Pezeshkian added that a way forward had to be found to improve conditions and bring the country out of its current situation.
Iran complains that it has entered negotiations twice in the past year, only to be attacked by Israel and the United States. In June, Iran signed a memorandum of understanding with the US in Pakistan to end the war. But the US violated the agreement by launching new attacks against Iranian cities.
Washington has also rejected a new seven-day proposal by Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz which was closed by Iran since the beginning of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran in February.
Diplomatic efforts by regional mediators are also underway to bring the two countries back to the negotiating table.
Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, whose country mediated negotiations between Iran and the US, visited Tehran on Tuesday for talks with Iranian officials. Munir’s visit followed one by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also expressed his country’s readiness to mediate between Iran and the US.
Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said on Saturday that Pezeshkian will meet with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. Jalali added that the Iranian president will also participate in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Russia.
The meeting would continue a series of high-level diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Moscow, including recent meetings between senior officials in Tehran and Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Jalali told Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.