Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he believes in the possibility of resolving differences with the United States through dialogue. However, he said trust between the two countries has been seriously shaken after the recent US and Israeli attacks on Iran. This became clear from an interview published by Reuters, reports News.bg.
“I believe that we could very easily resolve our differences and conflicts with the United States through dialogue and talks“, Pezeshkian told conservative American journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview conducted on Saturday.
Pezeshkian urged former US President Donald Trump not to succumb to pressure to get involved in a war with Iran during his talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington on Monday for a meeting at the White House.
“President Trump is capable enough to steer the region towards peace and a brighter future and put Israel in its place. Either fall into a pit or a swamp“, the Iranian leader emphasized. “It's up to him which path he chooses.“
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said she wasn't sure whether Trump had seen Pezeshkian's comments, but agreed that he was the right figure to move the region toward peace.
The Iranian president blamed Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, for the collapse of peace talks that were underway when Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian targets on June 13. That set off a 12-day air war that killed top Iranian military and nuclear scientists.
“How can we trust the United States again? How can we be sure that during negotiations Israel will not be given permission to attack us again?“ Pezeshkian asked.
An Israeli military source said last month that more than 30 senior security officials and 11 leading nuclear scientists were killed in the attacks.
For his part, Donald Trump said he expected to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions with Netanyahu, calling the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites a "tremendous success". On Friday, he told reporters that he believed Tehran's nuclear program had been seriously slowed, despite the possibility that Iran could resume its efforts elsewhere.
Iran categorically denies seeking to develop nuclear weapons.