Iran not seeking war with Muslim states: president

TEHRAN -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that his country does not seek war with Muslim states, according to the official news agency IRNA.

He made the remarks in a message to extend congratulations on the arrival of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and Nowruz, the beginning of the Iranian new year that falls on March 21.

Commenting on recent tensions between Iran and some of the Arab states in the wake of the US and Israeli attacks, Pezeshkian said, "We do not intend to have any difference with Muslim countries. We do not seek conflict and war with Islamic states. They are our brothers."

He blamed the United States and Israel for the tensions that have arisen between Iran and the region's Muslim states.

Pezeshkian said Iran is ready to resolve all problems with its neighbors, proposing to form a security structure comprising Muslim states in the Middle East to ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

"We do not need the foreigners' presence in the region. We can set up an Islamic assembly in the Middle East with the cooperation of Muslim states, and within that framework, regulate our security, economic, cultural and political relations," he said.

Pezeshkian stressed that Iran did not seek to develop nuclear weapons, and the country's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had issued a religious decree prohibiting atomic arms, adding no official in Iran can move towards the development of the weapons of mass destruction.

He noted that, however, the United States seeks to persuade the world that Iran was moving towards nuclear weapons.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then-supreme leader, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases and assets in the Middle East.