Pezeshkian Offers Talks but Rejects Pressure on Hormuz

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that Tehran is willing to pursue diplomacy with Washington but will not accept military threats, and that it will not allow unrestricted use of the Strait of Hormuz while sanctions and a U.S. blockade remain in place. His remarks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York underscored the conditions and disagreements facing efforts to resume talks during the conflict between Iran and the United States. Pezeshkian said Iran was prepared to resume discussions but rejected what he called the language of force. He described Iran’s nuclear program as peaceful and asserted the country’s right to develop nuclear technology, while saying questions about the program could not be resolved on the battlefield. Iranian state media reported that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi set out conditions for reopening the waterway: lifting the U.S. naval blockade, unfreezing Iranian assets and ending the war on all fronts. The reports did not establish that Washington had accepted those terms.