Iran to halt strikes on neighbours unless attacks from there: Pezeshkian

Arab states in the Gulf and beyond that house US assets have been targeted in Iranian retaliatory strikes in the war.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said neighbouring countries will no longer be targeted, unless an attack originates from there, as the war launched by the United States and Israel, which triggered sustained retaliation from Tehran across the Gulf and beyond, enters its second week.

The Iranian interim leadership council approved the motion on Friday, Pezeshkian said on Saturday.

In remarks carried by Iranian media, the president also apologised to neighbouring countries for the strikes that took place in recent days.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran said, The Iranian president’s statement “is a deescalation, however small, in a very escalated situation as it is day eight of the initiation of the US and Israeli strikes across Iran. We have received reports of a continuation of these air attacks in more than 170 cities.”

Pezeshkian’s comments were in a prerecorded five-minute statement. “He began with a reference to the residential areas, schools and hospitals being attacked, in a breach of international law and regulations. He went on to call for unity and solidarity among people to defend the sovereignty of the country. He also sent a strong message to the Americans,” Asadi said.