Iran president vows ‘stronger’ response if Israel retaliates

Tehran (AFP): President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted Wednesday that Iran was “not looking for war” but pledged a stronger response if Israel retaliates for its missile attack.

“If it (Israel) wants to react, we will have a stronger response, this is what the Islamic Republic is committed to,” Pezeshkian said in a joint press conference with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha. “We are not looking for war, it is Israel that forces us to react.”

“The dirty goal of the Zionist regime is to cause insecurity and spread crisis in the region,” Pezeshkian said. “What we want from US and European countries is to tell the entity they have planted in the region (Israel) to stop the bloodshed.”

Sheikh Tamim warned that Israel was drawing the region to the “brink of the abyss” with its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The emir also condemned ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying Doha would press on with efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, whose October 7 attacks triggered the conflict.