Iran says it will not surrender even if it is bombed
LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Tehran will not surrender to US pressure and will not give up on its goals even if it is bombed, as tension rises between the Islamic Republic and the United States.
Rouhani was quoted by state news agency IRNA as telling a ceremony in commemoration of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s: “We need resistance, so our enemies know if they bomb our land, and if our children are martyred, wounded or arrested, we will not give up on our goals for the independence of our country and our pride.”
Pakistan offers services for dialogue b/w US, Iran to reduce current row
Earlier today, the Foreign Office (FO) has said Pakistan has offered its services on many occasions for dialogue between the US and Iran to reduce the current tension in their relations.
At his weekly news briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal stressed the need that the international agreement on Iran must be upheld and misgivings should be removed through negotiations.
In interviews conducted from outside the country by telephone and online, Iranians described heated discussions at home, on the streets and on social media.
“Apart from the deterioration in the Iranian economy, I believe the most severe effect” of confrontation with the United States “is in the mental situation of ordinary Iranians,” he said. “They are sustaining a significant amount of stress.”
The United States pulled out of an agreement between Iran and world powers a year ago that limited Iran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting economic sanctions.
Iranians tense and apprehensive as whispers of war spread
Iranian and US leaders have reassured their nations that they do not seek war. But among ordinary Iranians who already face hardship from tightening sanctions, nerves are being strained by worry that the situation could slip out of control.
The prospect of war was now the main topic of conversation in workplaces, taxis and buses, Nima Abdollahzade, a legal consultant at an Iranian startup company, told Reuters.
