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‘Heavy attacks will continue’: Iran renews threat to US allies as Trump sees victory in its ‘apology’ to neighbours
Masoud Pezeshkian's office reasserted a caveat on Saturday: “If countries in the region do not cooperate in the US attack on Iran, we will not attack them.”
After US President Donald Trump interpreted Iran's apology to its neighbours over the widening of the conflict as a mark of “defeat”, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reasserted a caveat on Saturday. “If countries in the region do not cooperate in the US attack on Iran, we will not attack them,” a spokesperson for his office said.
President Pezeshkian also posted on X in Persian: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasised the preservation and continuation of friendly relations with the governments of the region based on good neighborliness and mutual respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity. This does not negate Iran's inherent right to defend itself against military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime.”
Doubling down, Iran's hardline judiciary chief later said the Islamic republic would continue targeting neighbours offering its enemies "points... used in aggression against our country".
"Evidence from Iran's armed forces shows that the geography of some countries in the region is openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy," said Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who is also a member of the interim leadership council. "The heavy attacks on these targets will continue," he added.
Soon after, blasts were heard in Dubai in the UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain.
Many countries in West Asia/Middle East, including the UAE and Qatar, have US military bases that Iran has been targeting, leading to damage within cities too.
Track: Live news from UAE amid US-Iran conflict
The deputy head of Pezeshkian’s office said the President's message was “clear”.
“Iran will never submit to coercion. Our powerful armed forces will give a decisive response to any aggression from US bases in the region,” the official said, as per news agency Reuters and Qatar-based channel Al Jazeera.
What Trump said
Trump had claimed hours earlier that Iran had “lost” and “surrendered to Middle East neighbours”. Those remarks come just after Iran's President Pezeshkian hinted at de-escalation on Saturday and apologised to neighbouring countries in West Asia (or Middle East) for attacks.
Pezeshkian had added that the country's armed forces have been instructed “not to attack or launch missiles at neighbouring countries unless attacked from there". He called these countries “brothers” and said, “We have no intention of attacking neighboring countries."
Following this, Trump in a post on Truth Social said Iran's promise was only made possible due to “relentless strikes” by the United States and Israel.
“Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack,” Trump wrote.
He claimed that Iran was “looking to take over and rule the Middle East” and that “it is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years".
Issuing a renewed threat, Trump warned that Iran will be “hit very hard” on Saturday, March 7, and said that areas which were not a targets until now will be attacked because of Iran's “bad behaviour”.
Strikes continue in region
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian's apology to neighbouring countries came earlier in the day even though missiles and drones continued to fly toward the Gulf and Arab states, reported news agency Associated Press.
Pezeshkian's remarks came exactly a week after the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28, starting the war and killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rattling the entire world.
However, even after Pezeshkian's announcement, several cities in the Gulf including Dubai and Abu Dhabi continued to hear explosions and air raid sirens. On Saturday, the Dubai International Airport also suspended its operations briefly after what was officially reported as a “minor incident”.
