Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister-Designate Ali al-Zaidi, during which Pezeshkian said Iran is ready for dialogue within the framework of international law, but will not acquiesce to force.
Pezeshkian said that "our problem is that on the one hand, the United States is pursuing a policy of maximum pressure against our country, and on the other hand, it expects Iran to come to the negotiating table and ultimately surrender to its unilateral demands ... such an equation is impossible," read a statement published by Pezeshkian's office on Tuesday (Local time).
He noted that Iran fundamentally does not consider war and insecurity to be favourable options, reports Xinhua news agency.
Pezeshkian stressed that Iran must not deprive itself of nuclear technology, saying the United States speaks in a way as if Iran must not have a nuclear industry, and imposes extra pressure on the country by putting forward excessive demands.
He added that in all previous negotiations, Iran was fully ready to provide, within the framework of international regulations and global monitoring, whatever was deemed necessary under international norms to ensure the peaceful nature of its nuclear activities.
Al-Zaidi, for his part, voiced Iraq's readiness to mediate between Iran and the United States to contain regional crises, read a statement from Al-Zaidi's media office.
According to the Iraqi statement, the two sides also agreed to exchange official visits in the coming period to strengthen bilateral ties.
On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases and assets in the Middle East.
A ceasefire was reached between the warring sides on April 8, followed by peace talks in Pakistan's Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which ended without an agreement.
