Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the United States for the failure of an interim deal with Iran, while saying there should be a new attempt at concluding it. His remarks were broadcast on Iranian state television on Saturday 24 October and reported by Reuters from its Dubai newsroom.

What Pezeshkian said

According to the Reuters account, Pezeshkian said: "We were having negotiations, the cowards (Americans) messed everything up. I still think we should go and conclude it." The remarks came as tensions between Washington and Tehran remained high, with the United States moving diplomats and family members out of some Middle East posts and warning of Iranian plots against American personnel. Pezeshkian's comments were presented as an opening to talks, not as an agreement, and no new negotiation has been confirmed by either side.

Warnings on both sides

The same weekend brought sharp warnings from Iran's military. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned, in comments reported by the semi-official Fars News Agency, that even limited strikes would trigger a response several times greater. Iran's armed forces chief of staff, Ali Abdollahi, said the United States military would not be allowed into the Gulf under any circumstances. President Donald Trump had said on Friday that he might undertake another operation using the codename of the United States-Israeli war against Iran that began in February. With diplomacy and deterrence running side by side, the next move is unclear, and readers should treat each side's claims as its own position rather than established fact.

Sources: Reuters via The Business Standard, Reuters via KRRO