Masoud Pezeshkian has apologised to neighbouring countries affected by retaliatory airstrikes carried out during the week-long conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.
Iran launched missile and drone attacks on several US military bases located in Gulf countries — including Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Kuwait — in response to what it described as “preemptive” strikes by the US and Israel.
Mahdavi Raja, Iran’s ambassador to Nigeria, told TheCable on Thursday that Tehran considered it within its rights to strike the neighbouring Gulf countries, even if those states maintain friendly relations with Iran.
Defending the move, Raja said many of the attacks carried out by the US were launched from military bases situated in neighbouring Arab countries.
Iran has since insisted that it will not retreat from defending itself against external attacks.
However, the president adopted a more conciliatory tone on Saturday while delivering a video message broadcast by Iranian state television.
“I deem it necessary to apologise to neighbouring countries that were attacked,” Pezeshkian said. “We do not intend to invade neighbouring countries.”
The president also called for regional cooperation to “establish peace and calm”.
Pezeshkian added that a directive had been issued to the armed forces to “not attack neighbouring countries unless attacked first”.
“Those considering exploiting this moment to attack Iran must not become puppets of imperialism,” he said.
The president further stated that supporting Israel or the US is “not a path to honour and freedom”.
Shortly after his address, the Qatar Ministry of Defence announced that its armed forces had “intercepted” a missile attack.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had begun a “broad wave” of fresh strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure in Tehran and Isfahan.