The president of Iran, Mashud Pezeshkian, has pointed out this Monday that the Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Jamenei, has given the Executive Branch "a certain capacity" to channel negotiations aimed at ending the open war with the United States and Israel.
"We are trying to resolve the problem through dialogue. In that sense, the supreme leader of the Revolution has also granted us a certain capacity," Pezeshkian has stated in a meeting with regional governors and mayors of the country’s main cities, according to a statement released by the Iranian Presidency.
The head of state has emphasized that the goal is to "overcome the challenges and crises that the enemies have created for our country with the support and cooperation of the people," avoiding directly citing the United States. Tehran also intends to move forward along the line marked by Jamenei to get the country out of the "neither war nor peace" situation.
Pezeshkian has defended that war "benefits no one," although he has stressed that Iran will not accept "surrendering" under military pressure. He has also denounced the "lies and excessive demands" and has called for maintaining popular resistance.
During the weekend, contacts have been maintained between Iranian delegates and representatives of Qatar, which acts as mediator. These talks would have crystallized into a "two-day plan" aimed at facilitating the reopening of Hormuz, as long as Washington meets the demands set out by Tehran.
This Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araqchi, has confirmed that the "very intensive" contacts with the mediators, Qatar and also Pakistan, are continuing. "We have presented our conditions, the plan, and everything depends on the political rationality of Washington," he has pointed out.
"If they choose honest diplomacy, we will work, and if they try to deceive us and launch military operations, they will see a response more bitter and harsher than before," the head of Iranian diplomacy has warned.