Israel’s aggression against Iran risked all-out regional war had it gone unanswered: Pezeshkian

Addressing the Eurasian Economic Forum via video link on Friday, Pezeshkian said the Iranian armed forces exercised “legitimate” defense of the noble nation, national sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter during the 12-day aggression against the country.

In the early hours of June 13, the Israeli regime launched a full-scale aggression on Iranian soil by targeting various military and nuclear sites, claiming the lives of many top military commanders and nuclear scientists as well as other civilians.

On June 22, the United States jumped on the bandwagon and bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in a grave violation of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

A day later, Iran launched a barrage of missiles at al-Udeid air base in Qatar—the largest American military base in West Asia—in retaliation for the unprovoked and unlawful aggression.

The embattled regime was forced to unilaterally declare a truce on June 24 after suffering heavy blows resulting from a total of 22 waves of Iranian ballistic missiles.

Pezeshkian said the Israeli regime’s “brutal acts of aggression and illegal armed terrorist attacks” on Iran occurred amid indirect talks between Iran and the United States about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, adding that the country’s peaceful nuclear facilities were also targeted.

“The military attacks by the US and the Zionist regime on Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities, which were under full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, are a gross violation of all international rules,” he emphasized.

The Iranian president said the aggression also inflicted “an irreparable blow” to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Pezeshkian noted that a large number of civilians were killed and wounded during the Israeli regime’s “series of illegal and criminal operations” and attacks on residential areas, public infrastructures, hospitals and medical centers.

He urged the international community, especially the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, to adopt a more responsible attitude in dealing with aggressors and warmongers.

The Iranian president stressed the need to abandon the policy of appeasement with the Zionist regime regarding its systematic and repeated violation of human rights.

He said today’s session of the Eurasian Economic Forum is an opportunity to firmly condemn such acts of aggression and threats to the region and the whole world.

Elsewhere in his address, Pezeshkian said Iran has always strived to be an “effective and reliable” member in regional economic relations, adding that the implementation of a free trade agreement signed between Tehran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) would be an important step towards deepening economic ties in the region.

Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union signed an agreement in December 2023 to initiate free trade, six years after Tehran joined the bloc. This move aims to diversify Iran's trade partners in response to Western sanctions.

The Iranian president noted that the development and modernization of the existing rail and road corridors, improvement of air transport, establishment of special joint zones and utilization of the transit capacities of Iranian ports to connect the EAEU member countries to global markets are on the agenda.

He added that cooperation between energy producers and consumers and the use of existing capacities to connect energy networks in the region are also among priorities.

Pezeshkian called for establishing necessary infrastructures to promote cooperation in the field of digital technologies and facilitate the exchange of information and new trade and organizing artificial intelligence, as well as making joint efforts to combat unilateralism.

“Undoubtedly, it will not be easy to fully utilize the potential and benefits of the free trade agreement without developing an independent, anti-sanctions banking infrastructure,” the president emphasized.

He proposed financing of joint infrastructure and industrial projects by the Eurasian Development Bank, expansion of the EAEU’s currency in circulation to interested observer countries, and implementation of a settlement system in national currencies.