Iran’s president wants to revive MoU to end stalled US war

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of "neither war nor peace".

In a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday, he said members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council believed the memorandum represented the best possible agreement based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.

"There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation," Pezeshkian said. "The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path."

The deal memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. That period ended last week, but the two sides remain far apart, with no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.

Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Iran’s economic prospects, saying the country could not attract investment in this stalled phase.

"Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk," he said. "We have to remove this risk from the country."

Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade.

Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council warned Tehran’s neighbours against joining the new US effort to strangle Iran’s economy.

"If [Trump] wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner," Mohsen Rezaei said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.

Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.

Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf - alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz - if neighbors join what he described as the economic war against Iran.

Trump in the past week has vowed to increase Iran’s pain by imposing an "unprecedented" level of economic warfare and isolation. Iran has lived under sanctions for years.

(Associated Press and TNA staff)