Dubai, Aug 23: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way to end the prolonged standoff, while Tehran's new security chief warned neighbouring countries against supporting Washington's efforts to impose further sanctions on Iran.
Pezeshkian said the agreement offered a possible way out of the current "neither war nor peace" situation and maintained that it did not amount to capitulation.
In remarks published by state-run IRNA, he said Iran's Supreme National Security Council considered the memorandum the best possible arrangement based on the country's national interests.
The memorandum, signed by US President Donald Trump in June, set a 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an agreement on its nuclear programme. However, the deadline passed last week with the two sides still divided over key issues, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Pezeshkian also linked the prolonged standoff to Iran's economic difficulties, saying uncertainty was discouraging investment in the country.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, the new head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, issued a warning to neighbouring countries against joining Washington's economic pressure campaign.
Rezaei said Iran would retaliate against countries that supported US efforts to impose further economic sanctions, including by targeting alternative oil-shipping routes in the Persian Gulf if necessary.
His comments came as Trump vowed to intensify economic pressure and isolation of Iran.
Violence Reported In West Bank
In the occupied West Bank, a 61-year-old Palestinian man alleged that an Israeli settler attacked him with a pipe outside his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez, leaving him bruised and in pain.
The man, Saeed Muhammad Ibrahim Rabah, said he had previously lost a leg after being shot by a settler in April 2025.
Separately, the Israeli military said it was pursuing a suspect following a stabbing attack near Jericho that left a 24-year-old Israeli injured.
Violence involving Israeli settlers, soldiers and Palestinians has continued to escalate across the West Bank, with Palestinian officials reporting dozens of Palestinian deaths this year.
