Pezeshkian tells Fox News 'we never started the war'

Shrugs off reports of Supreme Leader's health problems

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks at the general debate of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday (local time). [UPI]
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks at the general debate of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday (local time). [UPI]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said in an interview made public Thursday (local time) that "it is the United States that must decide whether it wants to end the war or not."

The remarks came in an interview aired Thursday evening on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier." Fox News is generally regarded as a media outlet favorable to US President Donald Trump. Pezeshkian told the program that Iran had not chosen war. "We never started the war, but if they want to keep fighting us, we will respond strongly and decisively," he said.

He added that Iran did not wish to see the war continue, and that "it is the United States that must choose whether it wants to end it or not."

Asked whether Iran sought to possess nuclear weapons, Pezeshkian flatly said "absolutely not." He said possessing weapons of mass destruction is religiously prohibited, and that Ali Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran who was killed in an airstrike in February, had repeatedly made that point.

Pezeshkian also reiterated Iran's standing position that its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, enriched to around 60 percent, was "not much of a problem" and that Tehran was willing to dilute it.

On current Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Pezeshkian said that "implementing policy is the job of the administration and the government, but consultations and directives come from there," referring to the Supreme Leader's office. He shrugged off speculation about Mojtaba Khamenei's health, saying he had met with him for about seven hours roughly a month to a month and a half ago, though he could not recall the exact date. Questions about Khamenei's condition had arisen after he went six months without making a public appearance, fueling speculation that he had been seriously wounded in an airstrike at the start of the war and was unable to carry out normal activities.

Pezeshkian attributed the failure to properly observe the truce MOU between the United States and Iran to "a lack of coordination" and "misunderstandings," arguing that "both sides need to keep communication channels open to prevent this from happening again."


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