Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Monday that while Tehran "is not looking for war," the country will "never sit still in the face of any aggression".
The remarks, reported by Iran's Fars news agency, mark Pezeshkian's first public response following Sunday's US military strikes against Iranian missile positions on Larak Island near the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to reporters prior to his departure for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he is scheduled to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of state summit, Pezeshkian asserted that Iran would deliver a "decisive response to the aggressors" if targeted by future military action. He emphasized that ongoing instability and unrest across the region serve no country's interests and pose serious challenges to all regional stakeholders.
The statements come in the wake of an operational escalation in the Persian Gulf, where US forces carried out targeted strikes on two Iranian launchers located on Larak Island. US officials confirmed the strikes were conducted after monitoring indicated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces were preparing to deploy sea mine-carrying rockets into critical international shipping lanes within the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC condemned the strikes—which preliminary Iranian media reports attributed to unmanned aerial systems—stating that several military personnel and civilians were killed or injured during the engagement. Promising direct retaliation, the IRGC executed subsequent ballistic missile and drone strikes against US installations in Jordan early Monday morning, heightening fears of renewed conflict in the region.
