Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday his country is ready to return to the ceasefire deal reached with the US in June if Washington does the same, in conciliatory remarks following the first exchange of fire between the two countries in a month.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said that “if the US returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iranian state media reported.
The June framework deal called for an immediate ceasefire and started a 60-day period for talks aimed at reaching a wider peace deal.
Tehran agreed to clear the Strait of Hormuz of mines and allow ships to pass during the period, and Washington agreed to end its naval blockade, lift sanctions, issue waivers for Iranian oil exports and begin work on a reconstruction package for Iran, among other things.
The agreement quickly fell apart, and while there has been a lull in fighting, the two sides exchanged fire over the weekend.
While Pezeshkian has long favoured a negotiated end to the war, Iran’s most powerful force remains the elite paramilitary IRGC, which is pressing for greater concessions from the US, including Iranian control over Hormuz and financial compensation for the war. Those conditions would likely be unacceptable to Washington.
On Monday, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also said the US must honour its commitments and the framework deal.
"Then we can get out of this situation," Araghchi told Iran's state-run television on the sidelines of the summit in Bishkek.
Araghchi is in Kyrgyzstan as part of the Iranian delegation led by Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian also said in another part of his speech at the summit that Tehran is not seeking war, and claimed the Islamic Republic has an impressive record of fulfilling its international commitments and treaties.
Pezeshkian's remarks come as the exchange of fire between Iran and the United States has once again escalated since the early hours of Monday, when the US targeted two Iranian launchers on Larak Island.
Hours after the US attack on the island near Hormuz, the Iranian president stated that Iran does not seek war but will "never sit quietly" in the face of any aggression and will "deliver a firm response to the aggressors".
