Tehran, Iran — Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that his country was not seeking nuclear weapons but would continue to defend its “legitimate rights” in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
As a fragile ceasefire with Israel took hold after 12 days of fighting that also included US strikes, Pezeshkian told his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates that the two countries “cannot impose unjust aspirations by force”.
“We expect you to explain to them, in your dealings with the United States, that the Islamic Republic of Iran is only seeking to assert its legitimate rights,” Pezeshkian said during a call with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed.
“It has never sought to acquire nuclear weapons and does not seek them,” he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency, adding that Iran was “ready to resolve the issues… at the negotiating table”.
The war between the longtime regional foes saw Israel strike Iranian nuclear facilities and killed nuclear scientists and the country’s top military brass.
On Sunday, Israel’s ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The fighting broke out two days before Tehran and Washington were set to hold a new round of talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The two sides were at sharp odds over Iran’s uranium enrichment, which Tehran considers a “non-negotiable” right and which Washington has called a “red line”.
