Iran’s President Calls U.S. Nuclear Claims ‘Propaganda’ and Says Houthis Have ‘Their Own Problems’
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the U.S. of spreading lies about Iran’s nuclear intentions, criticised shifting statements by Donald Trump, described U.S. actions as propaganda, and said Iran is not at war with Saudi Arabia and that the Houthis have their own problems.
Iran’s president has used a series of pointed statements to push back against U.S. pressure on Tehran’s nuclear programme and its regional role.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said that with their technologies, the United States and Israel are “the real terrorists in the world.” He pointed to actions in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Qatar and Iran, arguing that they “assassinate anybody they wish, and then they claim that these people are terrorists.” He called it “a weird world” and said they “kill people very easily for a single person.”
On the nuclear issue, Pezeshkian said “The U.S. is doing propaganda. It is just propaganda.” He argued that if Iran were seeking nuclear weapons, it would not have become a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said the U.S. is bringing “alibis and pretexts to attack our soil” and described its claims as lies, repeating, “It is lies. It is lies.”
Pezeshkian also commented on former U.S. President Donald Trump, saying Trump is “saying something every day.” According to Pezeshkian, one day Trump says he wants to destroy Iran, another day he says the U.S. is a friend of Iran, one day he says he accepts Iran and another day that he does not. Pezeshkian said Iranian officials are not sure which kind of statement they should accept and proceed on the basis of.
Addressing regional tensions, Pezeshkian said, “We are not in war with Saudi Arabia and the Houthis have their own problems.” The remark sought to distance Iran from direct involvement in the Houthis’ conflicts while signalling that Tehran does not see itself as being at war with Riyadh.
The impact of these statements will depend on how other governments interpret Iran’s insistence that it is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that is being targeted by propaganda, and whether Pezeshkian’s comments about not being at war with Saudi Arabia feed into any further easing of tensions with Gulf states.
Sources
- OSINT