Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is engaged in a “full-scale war” with the United States, Israel, and Europe, according to an interview published Saturday on the website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe; they don’t want our country to remain stable,” Pezeshkian said, according to the Associated Press.
Iran president describes pressure from the West
Pezeshkian said the West’s campaign against Iran is more complex than the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq war, which resulted in more than a million deaths on both sides.
“This war is far more complex and more difficult,” he said, adding that unlike the earlier conflict, Iran now faces pressure on multiple fronts, including economic, cultural, political, and security challenges.
Comments precede Netanyahu–Trump meeting
The remarks were made ahead of a planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump during Netanyahu’s visit to the United States.
The meeting comes amid heightened tensions following recent military confrontations involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Trump warns Iran over nuclear ambitions
On Monday, Trump warned Iran against attempting to rebuild its nuclear programme as he welcomed Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
Trump repeated his assertion that Iran’s nuclear capabilities had been “completely and fully obliterated” by US strikes on key enrichment facilities in June. However, Israeli officials have expressed concern that Iran may be rebuilding its stockpile of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.
Threats of renewed action
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump told reporters. “And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down.”
Israeli and US strikes on Iran during a 12-day air war in June killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists, according to the Associated Press. Iranian retaliatory missile attacks killed 28 people in Israel, the report said.
