Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has said the country does not want war, even as tensions remain with the United States and Israel.
In a written message broadcast on state television, Khamenei stated that Iran was not seeking conflict but would defend its rights as a nation.
“We did not seek war and we do not want it,” he said in the message read out on state TV, coinciding with 40 days since his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28, the first day of the war.
“But we will not renounce our legitimate rights under any circumstances, and in this respect, we consider the entire resistance front as a whole,” he added, in an apparent reference to Lebanon where Israel is fighting a war with Tehran’s ally Hezbollah.
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The statement comes as Iran agreed to a fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States, raising the possibility of peace talks after earlier threats of annihilation from US President Donald Trump.
Khamenei, however, urged continued public engagement, telling citizens not to withdraw from civic action despite the ceasefire.
“Your voices in public squares are undoubtedly influential in the outcome of the negotiations,” he said, according to the message broadcast on state TV.
AFP