Iran’s president on Monday defended negotiations with the United States as he acknowledged the economic pressure, fuel shortages and war damage facing the country, pushing back against hardliners who oppose further dialogue.
“As for those who chant that we should not negotiate — if we do not negotiate, what should we do? Fight until the end? We negotiate with dignity,” Masoud Pezeshkian said in an address to an event held in Tehran.
“It is not logical to say we will not negotiate,” he said. “We are capable of defending the nation’s rights with the people’s backing. We must speak logically and receive a logical answer.”
His comments come amid a fragile ceasefire in the six-week war between Iran and the US and Israel, with Pakistan-mediated efforts to reach a final deal unsuccessful despite exchanges of US and Iranian proposals.
Hardline figures have opposed further talks without major US concessions. Mohammad Ali Jafari, a former commander-in-chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said Monday no further negotiations should take place unless Iran’s conditions were met.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, deputy head of parliament’s National Security Committee, said Sunday talks would be futile unless sanctions were lifted and blocked Iranian assets were released.
Adversaries exploit division
Pezeshkian tied the push for talks with the United States to a broader call for national unity, warning that Iran’s adversaries could exploit internal divisions more effectively than military attacks.
“We stand with dignity against foreigners, we negotiate, and we will defend the nation’s rights,” he said.
“We will stand against any aggression with unity and cohesion,” he added. “They cannot occupy the country with missiles and bombs, but they can with division and conflict. We must try to ensure that this unity and cohesion is not broken.”
Reports of divisions among Islamic Republic officials have emerged on multiple occasions since the war began. On March 28, reports pointed to serious disagreements between Pezeshkian and Ahmad Vahidi, the Revolutionary Guards commander who is now said to be the most powerful figure in the force.
Informed sources told Iran International at the time that the dispute stemmed from “the handling of the war and its destructive consequences for people’s livelihoods and the country’s economy.”
Three days later, Iran International received reports that Pezeshkian was frustrated at being placed in a “complete political deadlock” and that he had even been stripped of the authority to appoint replacements for government officials killed during the war.
Acknowledging damage, hardship after war
Pezeshkian said officials must be honest about the pressure Iran faces and should not claim the country has escaped harm.
“It is not the case that we have not been harmed,” he said.
He said Iran had sustained damage to energy and industrial infrastructure following Israeli-US airstrikes.
“We must take on a war footing,” he said. “They hit 230 million cubic meters of our gas; they hit our power plant, petrochemical facility and Mobarakeh Steel.”
“One cannot claim that we have no problems and that they are being destroyed,” he added.
He said Iran would not back down but must manage the country with prudence.
“One cannot say the enemy is being destroyed and we are flourishing,” he said. “They have problems and we also have problems. We will by no means bow our heads.”
The acknowledgment contrasted with Iran’s public victory narrative after the ceasefire, even as the country's economy had been battered, prices had risen and factories, power plants, railways, airports and bridges had been destroyed.
Oil exports squeezed as fuel shortfall deepens
Pezeshkian said Iran was under mounting economic pressure, with oil exports constrained.
“They closed the route and we are not exporting oil either,” he said. “We cannot export oil easily. Saying that we have not encountered any problem is one of those statements.”
He added that strikes on Iran's gasoline production facilities had deepened the country's fuel shortfall, with daily output at 100 million liters against demand of 150 million liters.
“Our gasoline production capacity has decreased. They hit it,” he said.
Reuters reported that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports had cut Iran’s oil exports by more than 80% over April 13-25 compared with the same period in March, leaving growing volumes of crude stranded on tankers.
Iran exported 1.84 million barrels per day of crude in March, before the US military began blocking shipping traffic in and out of Iranian ports.
