Iran To US: Surrender Not An Option, Reaches Out To Gulf States

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Tehran: Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday rejected US President Donald Trump's repeated calls for Iran to surrender, declaring that such hopes were“a dream they should take to their grave” as the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel intensified across the Middle East.

Delivering a televised address exactly one week after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei that triggered the war, Pezeshkian praised Iranians for their resilience and vowed that the country would continue to resist.

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“The enemies who hope Iran will capitulate will take that dream to the grave,” he said, adding that the country remained committed to international law and human rights despite what he described as aggression by Washington and Tel Aviv.

The war has rapidly expanded across the region, rattling global markets, disrupting air travel and exposing Gulf countries to waves of Iranian missiles and drones. Hours before Pezeshkian's address, strikes disrupted operations at Dubai International Airport, targeted a major Saudi oil facility and forced residents in Bahrain to repeatedly take cover.

Pezeshkian, who is part of a three-member interim leadership council overseeing Iran after the Supreme Leader's assassination, also attempted to calm tensions with neighbouring Gulf states.

Apology to Neighbours

“I should apologise to the neighbouring countries that were hit from Iran on my own behalf,” he said.“From now on, they should not attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked from the bases of those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

Iran's armed forces spokesman Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi later clarified that Tehran had not targeted countries that did not allow the United States to launch attacks from their territory.

“We have repeatedly said that they are our brothers. We aim to work hand-in-hand with our dear brothers and neighbours in the region to establish lasting peace and stability,” Pezeshkian said, reiterating that Iran has never planned an invasion of any neighbouring state.

However, Washington signalled that the conflict could intensify further. Shortly after the Iranian president's remarks, Trump warned on his Truth Social platform that additional Iranian officials could become targets.

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“Today Iran will be hit very hard!” Trump wrote, adding that areas and groups previously not considered targets were now“under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death”.

The Trump administration has also approved a new USD 151 million arms sale to Israel while US officials warned that an even more intense bombing campaign could begin in the coming days. Israel said it had launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Tehran, with footage showing explosions lighting up the night sky over western parts of the capital.

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Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said the country would“take all necessary measures” to defend itself.

So far, the war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six American soldiers have also been killed.

Iranian missile barrages continued on Saturday, sending residents in Israel rushing to bomb shelters and triggering loud explosions in Jerusalem, though there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The conflict has also raised fears of a global economic shock. Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, warned that the war could“bring down the economies of the world”, predicting that disruptions to Gulf energy exports could push oil prices to USD 150 per barrel.

Benchmark US crude prices have already climbed above USD 90 a barrel, their highest level in more than two years.

Meanwhile, fighting has also spread to Lebanon. The Iranian-allied Hezbollah group said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces that landed in the mountains of eastern Lebanon late Friday.

Lebanon's health ministry reported that 16 people were killed and 35 wounded in Israeli strikes following the clashes. Since Monday, Israeli attacks have killed more than 200 people in Lebanon and wounded over 800, according to officials.

Despite the widening war, Pezeshkian insisted that diplomacy remains the only sustainable path forward.

“The ball is in the court of those who started this aggression,” he said, warning regional groups and outside powers not to become“puppets of imperialism” and urging unity among Iranians in defending their country's sovereignty.

Trump Warns Of Killing More Iran Leaders
US President Donald Trump warned in a social media post on Saturday that more Iranian officials would become targets in the war, writing:“Today Iran will be hit very hard!”
“Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran's bad behaviour, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time,” Trump wrote, without elaborating.

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