Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said the country’s interim leadership council had asked Iranian forces to stop attacking Gulf states unless his country is attacked from their territory, but questions remain about whether the council has the authority to enforce the halt.
In a televised message, he said the decision was agreed on Friday and conveyed to Iranian forces. However, dozens of attacks have hit Gulf countries since then, including three attempts to strike a Saudi oilfield near the UAE border on Saturday morning.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has previously stated that the country is now operating under its long-standing “mosaic defence” doctrine, a decentralised strategy that allows local commanders to make independent battlefield decisions in the event that central leadership is disrupted or destroyed.
The council's decision, however, may be the first sign of divisions emerging between Iran's political leadership and a military that, with its commanders gone, has grown accustomed to acting on its own terms.
“I need to apologise on behalf of myself to the neighbouring countries that have come under attack by Iran because of the vicious assault on us,” said Mr Pezeshkian. “We lost our supreme leader, our compatriots and loved ones. Our armed forces, when their commanders were gone, conducted the operations that were necessary and protected our country with strength.”
“The interim council approved a decision yesterday, that decision was relayed to our forces that they should no longer attack neighbouring countries unless there is an attack on Iran staged from their territory,” he added.
Gulf states have repeatedly said they would not allow US forces to use their territory to launch attacks against Iran, calling instead for a peaceful solution and an agreement to de-escalate.
But Tehran struck military, civilian and energy infrastructure across the six Gulf states shortly after the US and Israel launched their assault a week ago, claiming it was targeting American military assets in those countries.
Mr Pezeshkian described neighbouring states as “brothers” and said Iran bore them no ill will. “We do not intend to conduct an assault on neighbouring countries. Like I have said before, they are our brothers. We have to be hand in hand with our brothers in peace.”
The announcement marks the first public directive from the Interim Leadership Council, the three-member body established following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death and comprising Mr Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and senior cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, to rein in Iran's military conduct beyond its borders.
Despite his announcement, serious doubts persist over whether all Iranian forces will comply with the directive, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has taken control.
The doctrine mentioned by the Foreign Minister was designed precisely for a scenario like the one now unfolding. With a large number of Iran's senior military figures killed in the opening phase of the war, operational decisions are now being taken at the regional level, potentially placing those commanders beyond the immediate reach of political directives from Tehran.
The President's address came as the war entered its second week on Saturday.
It was broadcast as Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir. The two discussed Iranian attacks on the kingdom and measures to halt them under their Joint Strategic Defence Agreement, which could mean Pakistan, a neighbour of Iran with historically uneasy relations with Tehran, may act in support of Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s missile and drone attacks have dropped since the war began, with the US saying it has hit major launch sites across the country.
Tehran knew it faced an existential threat and, by engaging Gulf states, it hoped that the fallout and damage caused would create a wave of pressure forcing US President Donald Trump to end the air strikes.
