President Masoud Pezeshkian asserts that any potential Israeli act of aggression against Iran will be met with a “decisive and unbelievable” response from the Islamic Republic.
The chief executive made the remarks during a meeting with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Wednesday in the western Russian city of Kazan, which hosts a meeting of the BRICS group of nations.
“We are not inclined towards expansion of conflict and tension in the region, and welcome any action that is in line with peace and calm,” Pezeshkian said, adding, “The Zionist regime’s actions, however, are being carried out with the precise aim of setting the entire region on fire.”
Pezeshkian cited the regime’s assassination of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’s former Political Bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, only a day after his presidential inauguration, as an instance of the regime’s attempts at obstructing the Islamic Republic’s goal of enhancing relations and cooperation with the countries of the world.
He also pointed to the Islamic Republic’s Operation True Promise II against the occupied Palestinian territories in early October that served as a response to the regime’s acts of aggression against the country and other regional nations.
Iran observed a period of self-restraint before conducting the operation in the hope that the regime would cease its October 2023-present war of genocide against the Gaza Strip, Pezeshkian said.
“However, continuation of the Zionist regime’s crimes in Gaza and expansion of the atrocities to Lebanon forced Iran not to leave its actions unanswered,” the Iranian president noted.
He considered Western countries’ support for the regime to be instrumental in continuation of its atrocities, urging those countries to take action towards controlling the regime.
The Ethiopian official, for his part, said his country was “following the developments in your (the West Asia) region with concern.”
He considered the current international and regional structure to be “unequal,” saying institutions like BRICS played a very effective role in eliminating such inequalities.
Abiy, meanwhile, praised Iran as a "strong and independent" country, which was well-recognized in Ethiopia, saying his country’s people maintained a positive image of Addis Ababa’s bilateral relations with Tehran.