Iran president says Tehran not favoring war

In a telephone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Sunday, Pezeshkian stated Iran seeks to develop balanced relations with all countries, including Western states, and has no intention to wage war and create tensions.

He noted that Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel was aimed at stopping the regime’s crimes and establishing peace in the region.

Pezeshkian added Iran carried out the missile attack in order to curb Israel’s brutality, stop its efforts to spread conflicts in the region and establish peace and tranquility.

The operation was in accordance with the United Nations Charter and based on international legal frameworks and only hit military targets, he continued.

Pezeshkian emphasized that Iran had refrained from giving an immediate response to Israel’s terrorist crime in assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and violating its national sovereignty in the hope that diplomatic bids would lead to the establishment of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israel assassinated Haniyeh in Tehran with the purpose of making up for its failures in the Gaza Strip, he noted, criticizing Western countries and the US for refusing to condemn the regime’s terrorist crimes.

The Dutch prime minister, for his part, said his country strongly believes that the region cannot bear more tensions and has called on all parties to prevent the escalation of conflicts.

Schoof added that the Netherlands has urged Israel to accept a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and has supported the US proposal for the establishment of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

On October 1, Iran responded to the Israeli assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, and IRGC general Abbas Nilforoushan by launching as many as 200 ballistic missiles toward the Zionist regime’s military and intelligence bases all over the occupied Palestinian territories.