Iran president says Tehran would 'immediately' reciprocate if US returns to June deal
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives for a SCO+ format meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Sept. 1. AFP-Yonhap
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Tehran would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.
"I state explicitly that if the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take reciprocal action," Pezeshkian said at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan, according to the website of the Iranian presidency.
The memorandum of understanding was aimed at ending months of hostilities between Tehran and Washington, which began in late February with the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The deal later collapsed, with both sides accusing each other of violating its terms.
"The repeated violation by the United States of its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding showed that... the absence of effective enforcement guarantees and a return to a policy of pressure and threats could derail the path of diplomacy," said Pezeshkian in a later speech at the summit.
"Iran has continued to regard diplomacy and negotiations as the primary path to resolving disputes. But diplomacy without good faith, without respect for commitments and without refraining from the use of force cannot create lasting peace," he added.
His remarks came as the Strait of Hormuz remained a key point of contention between Iran and the United States, which resumed exchanging fire on Monday after more than a month of relative calm.
Tehran has maintained its closure of the strategic waterway, while insisting it would only open it if Washington meets its demands of lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports, removing oil sanctions and unfreezing Iranian assets abroad under the deal.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said "the United States must return to its commitments and to what their president signed" under the deal.
"In that case, everything can be put back on the right track."