Iranian President says Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons, but will still pursue energy ambitions

Masoud Pezeshkian says Iran has right to pursue nuclear energy

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, with the head of the country's Aatomic Energy Organisation, Mohammad Eslami, right, at an exhibition of Iranian nuclear achievements in Tehran. AP

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said Iran did not intend to develop nuclear weapons but would pursue its right to nuclear energy, as conflict with Israel entered its fourth day.

In an address to parliament, he said "they are sitting and saying that Iran should not obtain nuclear weapons, while we have no intention of obtaining these weapons at all", an apparent reference to Israel and western countries that have long accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons.

"We have the right to benefit from nuclear energy and research that benefits this society, and no one has the right to take this right," Mr Pezeshkian added.

Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. UN inspectors said they could not verify that claim and the US and Europe have accused Iran of enriching uranium close to weapons-grade levels.

"We were engaged in negotiations and encountered aggression during the diplomatic process,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in his first briefing since the latest conflict broke out.

“With this action of the Zionist regime, which we cannot imagine without the support of America, they practically made the negotiation process meaningless,” he added.

US President Donald Trump abandoned a deal in 2018 that limited Iran's uranium enrichment. The US and Iran have held five rounds of talks since April to try to find a path to a new accord. A sixth round of talks was scheduled for Sunday but did not take place because of the escalation between Israel and Iran.

Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on Friday morning, sparking the most intense conflict yet between the countries and provoking fears of a lengthy war that could engulf the Middle East. Iran has launched retaliatory missile and drone attacks, causing significant destruction in major cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Israel says its attacks have hit military and nuclear sites, and killed many senior commanders and scientists. "Does the scientist of this country have a gun in his hand and a bomb? If we did not have these missiles now, Israel would easily hit wherever it wanted every day," Mr Pezeshkian said.

Mr Trump told Israel to back down from a plan to kill Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters quoted a senior US official as saying. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that regime change could be an outcome of its attacks on Iran.

Mr Pezeshkian called for national unity and urged citizens to put aside their differences amid the latest fighting. "Every difference, issue, and problem that has existed must be put aside today and we must stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence," he said in his parliamentary address.

Iranian officials attempted to emphasise diplomacy, knowing that Israel favoured military options, and the US threatened action should nuclear talks collapse. In the following weeks, Iranian officials and observers made clear that they believed Israel wanted to launch strikes, but that any attack could not take place without the knowledge and backing of the US.