Iranian president accuses Israel of seeking wider conflict

The Guardian-Sept 23rd2024

By Patrick Wintour in New York

Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has accused Israel of fanning the flames of war in the Middle East and said he hoped Iran could avoid being dragged into acting in a way “not worthy” of it, as he spoke to the media on his first official visit to the US.

The reformist, who took office in July after winning an election on a ticket of better relations with the west, said during a roundtable with journalists as he attended the UN general assembly in New York that no one benefited from war and that anyone who said otherwise was deluding themselves.

“We know more than anyone else that if a larger war were to erupt in the Middle East, it will not benefit anyone throughout the world. It is Israel that seeks to create this wider conflict,” he said.

Tensions soared immediately after his inauguration as the visiting political chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in an operation in Tehran that was widely attributed to Israel.

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Pezeshkian said he was repeatedly told to hold back a response to the killing because Israel was within a week or two of signing a peace agreement, but that peace remained elusive.

“We tried not to respond but unfortunately that elusive week never came,” he said adding that he believed Iran had been lied to. “There is no winner in warfare, everyone loses in war and conflict. We are only deluding ourselves if we think someone will be victorious in a regional war.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/23/iran-president-masoud-pezeshkian-israel-conflict-us