Iran president says Tehran has ‘right to respond’ to attacks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a press conference. File photo
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday his country has "the right to respond" to any aggression, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged de-escalation amid soaring tensions with Israel.
"While emphasising diplomatic solutions to issues, Iran will never give in to pressure, to sanctions and to bullying and considers it has the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms," Pezeshkian said according to a statement published by official news agency IRNA following a phone call with Scholz.
Meanwhile, the United States is asking Turkey and other allies that have ties with Iran to persuade it to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the US ambassador to Turkey said.
Ambassador Jeff Flake made the comments as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Iran-backed Hamas, was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, triggering threats of revenge by Iran against Israel, which is fighting the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. Iran blamed Israel for the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility.
Iranians attend the funeral procession of assassinated Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, August 1. Reuters
"We ask all of our allies that have any relations with Iran to prevail on them to de-escalate, and that includes Turkey," Flake said at a round-table with journalists in Istanbul as he comes to the end of his posting in Turkey.
"They're doing what they can to make sure that it doesn't escalate," he said of Washington's Turkish interlocutors, adding that they "seem more confident than we are that it won't escalate".
US-Turkey ties have been strained in recent years by the US alliance with Syrian Kurds that Turkey deems terrorists, and over Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 defences that prompted U.S. sanctions and removal from a F-35 jet programme.
Agencies
