Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged Sunday that Iranians were facing “many problems” as the United States prepares new sanctions aimed at further isolating the country’s economy, while defending a June memorandum of understanding with Washington as the best way out of a diplomatic deadlock that has left Iran in a state of “neither war nor peace.”
His remarks came after the US announced the new sanctions campaign, nearly six months into the war between Iran and the US and Israel. The 60-day deadline set by the US-Iran memorandum for ending the conflict and reaching an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program expired last week without any sign of a breakthrough.
“I understand we have many problems in society right now. We are trying to prevent these as much as we can,” Pezeshkian said in a speech broadcast on state television.
Pezeshkian said Iran was effectively engaged in a “full-scale economic, military and security war,” blaming US President Donald Trump for seeking to impose the “most crushing and terrifying sanctions” on the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, the Iranian president defended the MOU signed with Trump in June, describing it as the country’s best option for moving beyond the current stalemate.
