Iran will immediately reciprocate if the US returns to its commitments under an interim deal signed in June, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Bishkek, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.
“I am stating clearly that if the US returns to its commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media.
Several world leaders are also at the summit, held in Kyrgyzstan's capital, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, India's Narendra Modi, China's Xi Jinping, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Pezeshkian arrived in Kyrgyzstan with the message that Tehran was aiming for diplomacy over armed conflict with the United States, saying this during several sideline meetings with different leaders.
On Monday, he told Modi on the sidelines of the summit that continued war was in no one's interest, and that dialogue and cooperation were the way to resolve existing problems.
According to Iran's semi-official Mehr News, Pezeshkian met Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, and his agenda also included meeting Kyrgyzstan's deputy cabinet chairman, several participating leaders, and the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan on the sidelines of the summit.
When talking about previous agreements, Pezeshkian was referring to an interim deal signed in June between Tehran and Washington in efforts to end the war, which started with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. The deal quickly unraveled amid disagreements over its implementation.
Tehran has repeatedly said it will allow free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil supplies, only if Washington implements the terms of the agreement.
Pezeshkian's contact with Mojtaba Khamenei
Last month, Iran's semi-official Tasmin News Agency reported that Pezeshkian had met Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei around the start of the president's third year in office in late July.
Pezeshkian has given differing accounts in recent weeks about his access to Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father in the role in March.
On July 21, the president said interactions with the supreme leader were "increasing day by day", but in early August he said communicating with Khamenei was "very difficult."
The late July meeting covered military affairs and the economy, including securing resources, managing foreign exchange and energy use, and economic ties with foreign partners, according to state media.
In May, state media also reported that Pezeshkian had met Khamenei for several hours, in what was then the first publicly reported meeting between the two since Khamenei became supreme leader.
Khamenei was reportedly seriously injured in the February 28 strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. He had also generally kept a low public profile before becoming supreme leader.