Khamenei directs Iran to move beyond a state of “neither war nor peace”
Iran’s president stresses Tehran’s determination to set clear limits for any negotiating process, saying his country will not accept a policy of imposing faits accomplis.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, had instructed officials to work towards moving the country beyond a state of “neither war nor peace”. He affirmed Tehran’s readiness to negotiate in a manner that safeguards its independence and rights, while rejecting submission to pressure and threats.
According to Iran’s IRNA news agency, Pezeshkian described dialogue as a means of resolving disputes, arguing that resorting to war was unjustified when rights could be secured through negotiations.
The Iranian president nevertheless sought to establish clear limits for any negotiating process. He stressed that his country would accept neither imposed faits accomplis nor submission to force and intimidation. He recalled his position before the United Nations General Assembly, where he had reaffirmed Tehran’s commitment to dialogue based on justice and equality and its rejection of external pressure.
Pezeshkian’s remarks reflect an effort to revive the political process, but do not indicate that Iran is prepared to abandon the demands it regards as the foundation of any understanding. His call for negotiations is accompanied by renewed assertions of the country’s rights and sovereignty, tying the prospects for a settlement to Washington’s willingness to engage with Iranian conditions.
The Iranian presidency, however, is not alone in shaping the country’s position for the period ahead. Security and military institutions and officials continue to warn of the consequences of any new attack and to emphasise the armed forces’ readiness to respond.
These positions reveal an Iranian strategy combining the threat of military retaliation with conditional offers of a settlement, without signalling a willingness to retreat from demands Tehran considers essential to any agreement.
On the one hand, Iran wants to avoid another war and its potential military and economic costs. On the other, it seeks to avoid appearing to back down under American pressure.
This approach faces a difficult test amid continuing disagreements over security and nuclear issues, sanctions and the blockade, as well as the gap between the two sides’ conditions for ending the confrontation. The continuing state of “neither war nor peace” also places additional strain on Iran’s economy and limits the government’s ability to establish a stable environment for planning and investment.
