Pres. Denies Sending Weapons To Russia In First Press Conference In Office

President Masoud Pezeshkian is holding his first major press conference since taking office in late July, speaking to domestic and international journalists on a number of issues. During the presser Pezeshkian claimed that "Israel attempted to drag us into war by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran," going on to say that "...we exercised restraint and reserve the right to respond in a manner and time of our choosing".

• After the killing of Haniyeh there were significant regional and global concerns over the prospect of an escalation to direct conflict between Israel and Iran or its other proxies in the region. No major Iranian retaliation was forthcoming beyond some strikes by Lebanese Hezbollah against border regions in northern Israel. As such, expectations of a regional conflagration receded. However, Pezeshkian's comments could raise concerns once again.
• Pezeshkian also stated that Iran "reserves the right to defend ourselves and do not want to be under sanctions, but we will not accept humiliation." He says that Iran will never give up its missile programme, as doing so would leave the country vulnerable to attack from Israel.
• Claims that his gov't has not transferred any weapons to Russia since taking office. This stands in direct contrast to allegations from the US and its allies that have expressly called out Tehran for supposedly shipping ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its invasion of Ukraine.
• Pezeshkian also denies supplying hypersonic missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen.