'No hostility’: Iran President Apologises To Neighbours Over Strikes Amid West Asia Conflict

As the West Asia conflict entered its seventh day on Saturday, Iran signalled a partial attempt to calm regional tensions while maintaining a defiant stance against the United States and Israel.

According to the report, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran has decided to stop attacking neighbouring countries and expressed regret over the missile strikes that had taken place during the ongoing conflict. He said Iran has no intention of invading or targeting regional states and that a decision has been taken by the country’s interim leadership council to avoid further escalation with its neighbours. 

Pezeshkian stated that Iran would halt missile launches against nearby countries unless an attack on Iran originates from their territory. According to him, the decision was taken to prevent the conflict from spreading further across the region and to reassure governments in neighbouring Gulf nations. 

“I apologise to neighbouring countries that were affected by our actions. Iran does not seek hostility with them,” the president said, adding that Tehran’s military response would now be limited to defending itself if provoked.

However, the Iranian leader simultaneously rejected demands from Washington for Iran’s surrender. He asserted that Iran would never bow to pressure from its adversaries and warned that expectations of Tehran accepting unconditional defeat were unrealistic.

The remarks came shortly after US President Donald Trump declared that negotiations with Iran would only be possible if the country agreed to an “unconditional surrender.” In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said any future agreement would require Iran’s current leadership to step aside and be replaced by what he described as “acceptable leaders.”

Trump also suggested that the United States and its allies could assist in rebuilding Iran after such a transition, echoing his political slogan by proposing the phrase “Make Iran Great Again.”

Meanwhile, the military confrontation on the ground has shown little sign of slowing down. The Israeli military reported a large-scale air operation targeting key Iranian military infrastructure. According to the Israel Defence Forces(IDF), more than 80 fighter jets carried out coordinated strikes on sites in Tehran and central Iran, dropping around 230 bombs on strategic targets.

Among the facilities reportedly hit were an underground ballistic missile production site and a military academy used by Iranian forces. Israeli officials said the strikes were aimed at weakening Iran’s missile capabilities and disrupting operations linked to the country’s armed forces.

On the other side, Iran’s powerful military wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed it continued its retaliatory campaign. The IRGC announced that it had launched the 23rd phase of its military operation, referred to as “Operation True Promise 4 during the night.

According to the Iranian statement, the latest round involved advanced missile systems capable of striking multiple targets simultaneously. The IRGC said the missiles were aimed at Israeli positions in what it described as “occupied territories,” as well as US military bases across the region.

The ongoing exchanges highlight the widening scope of the conflict, which began after a major US-Israel strike last week that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, triggering a cycle of retaliation across the region.

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