‘Don't want Iran to stand on its feet’: Pezeshkian says country is facing ‘full-fledged war’ with West, Israel; vows decisive response

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Saturday that his country is facing a “full-fledged war” waged by Israel, the United States, and Europe.

“In my opinion, we are in a full-fledged war with America, Israel and Europe. They do not want our country to stand on its feet,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with the official website of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.


“Our dear military forces are doing their jobs with strength, and now, in terms of equipment and manpower, despite all the problems we have, they are stronger than when they [Israel and the US] attacked,” Pezeshkian said. “So, if they want to attack, they will naturally face a more decisive response.”

Pezeshkian said the West’s war against Iran is “more complicated and more difficult” than the 1980–1988 conflict with Iraq, which resulted in more than one million casualties on both sides.

His remarks came ahead of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled meeting with US president Donald Trump on Monday.

They also come six months after Israel and the United States carried out strikes on Iran, and follow the reimposition of United Nations sanctions by France, Germany and the United Kingdom in September over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Israeli and US strikes during a 12-day air war in June killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, while Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks left 28 people dead in Israel.

The United States later joined the Israeli campaign, carrying out air strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. Washington’s involvement subsequently halted negotiations with Tehran that had begun in April over Iran’s nuclear programme, as cited by AL Jazeera.

Since taking office again in January, Trump has reinstated his so-called “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran, reviving an approach first implemented during his earlier presidency.