Iran's President Urges Peace as US Blockade Bites

Pezeshkian paired his peace pitch with defiance. "The whole world acknowledges our victory and emphasizes that America has attacked our schools, hospitals and infrastructure in violation of all regulations and is hated around the world," he said, per IRNA. He added that Iran will "under no circumstances bow to intimidation" and would resist "until our last breath."

He also rejected the idea that the June memorandum was a surrender: "They cannot find even a single clause in this commitment that indicates capitulation," he said. "All the commitments concern the other side." DW notes that a minority of the 15 commitments do fall on Tehran, including allowing commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz without charge, at least temporarily, and reaffirming that Iran will not procure or develop nuclear weapons.

Iran's military struck a harder line. Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of the armed forces, said Friday that "with preparedness across land, sea, air, air defense and cyberspace, Iran's armed forces will respond to the enemy's new threats with crushing, punishing and devastating responses."

Parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Qalibaf, speaking in neighboring Iraq, echoed the push to negotiate, saying Washington appeared to have concluded it could not prevail in a direct military confrontation. "We must make plans to deal with the unjust sanctions so we can overcome them," he said.

Bessent argued the economic squeeze would make "large-scale" military operations unnecessary. Asked whether China, Iran's most important trading partner, would be asked to join the campaign, he declined to comment publicly.