Iran's president condemns Trump's anti-Tehran remarks

TEHRAN - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has strongly condemned recent anti-Tehran remarks by US President Donald Trump, calling them evidence of Trump's failure to understand the true character of the Iranian people.

Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian elites and cultural figures in the western province of Kermanshah on Wednesday evening, following Trump's comments in Riyadh the day before, said a statement posted on his office's website.

On Tuesday, Trump denounced Iran as "the most destructive force" in the Middle East and accused it of fueling regional instability, vowing that the United States would never allow it to acquire a nuclear weapon.

In response, Pezeshkian said the remarks revealed Trump's failure to grasp the Iranian people's "truth, honor, magnanimity and selflessness".

He added that while Trump portrayed Iran as a source of regional insecurity, thousands of women and children had been killed in Israeli bombardments of Gaza, where residents have also been deprived of water and medicine.

Pezeshkian said for the past 47 years, the United States and its allies have strained every nerve and sinew to bring Iran's government and people to their knees, but they have failed, and will not succeed.

Expressing confidence in Iran's resilience, he said the country would continue to advance by relying on its scientists, intellectuals and entrepreneurs. He added that while Iran does not seek war, it will never trade its honor and glory for the sake of peace.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry issued a statement late Wednesday, condemning Trump's comments as "false, divisive and deliberately misleading". It accused Trump of attempting to deflect international attention from Israel's actions in the region.

The statement added that while Israel was committing "the most heinous genocide" in the occupied Palestinian territories, along with "terrorist acts and war crimes" against Lebanon, Syria and Yemen through repeated violations of their sovereignty and territorial integrity, the US president "brazenly" blamed Iran for the devastation in these countries.

Trump's remarks came after Iranian and US delegations held the fourth round of indirect talks on Iran's nuclear program and US sanctions in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Sunday.