Politics Peseschkian: Israel wants to involve Iran in regional war

Iran's President Massoud Peseshkian accuses Israel of wanting to drag his country into a regional war. He cited the killing of the foreign head of the Islamist Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in the Iranian capital Tehran more than six weeks ago as justification.

"Israel is trying to involve us in a regional war by assassinating Hanija. We reserve the right to defense (...)," Iran's president said at his first press conference after taking office.

Peseshkian reiterated that the Islamic Republic was not seeking nuclear weapons and at the same time defended his country's missile program. "If we don't have missiles, they (Israel) will bomb us at any time, as they did in Gaza," said the head of government, adding: "We will not give up our ability to defend ourselves."

One of the foreign policy goals of the new Iranian government is a rapprochement with the West. When asked by a journalist whether he would like to meet with the new American head of state after the US election, Peseshkian said: "A direct meeting requires that promises are kept. They should not impose sanctions on us and threaten us, then we will also be fraternal with them".

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the USA and Israel have been considered arch-enemies of Tehran. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war almost a year ago, there has been a constant threat of conflagration in the region. Groups hostile to Israel, such as Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, are supported by Tehran.

Peseshkian was elected president in July following the accidental death of his predecessor Ebrahim Raisi. During the election campaign, the conservative-moderate politician had promised reforms, for example in the area of civil rights. According to critics, however, the government's course has not changed significantly so far. The real power in Iran is concentrated in the hands of religious leader and head of state Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

SDA