Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has spoken to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, noting that Iran did not start the war and that “defending against invasion is a natural right, in which we are good at”.

“Using the American bases against Iran in the region, with the purpose of disturbing our relations with our neighbours, should be stopped,” Pezeshkian has said, describing his discussion in a thread on X.

“Peace and stability in the region cannot be achieved while disregarding the Zionist-American invasion in our country. The Islamic Republic of Iran will not surrender to bullies,” he added.

Pezeshkian added that Tehran expects the global community to condemn the US-Israeli offensive and “convince invaders to respect international laws”.

“Commencing a war in order to conquest, based on false information, is a medieval act in [the] 21st century,” he has said.