Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday said the interim leadership had decided to halt all attacks on regional states unless there is any more usage of U.S. military bases on their soil to attack Iranian territory.
In a 5-minute prerecorded video statement, he apologized to regional states for attacks on their soil in the aftermath of the joint U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and thus far killing over 1,300 people.
The statement is being seen as a step toward de-escalation as the conflict enters its eighth day. However, despite Tehran’s steps, the U.S.-Israel coalition is reportedly continuing air attacks in more than 170 cities of Iran.
President Pezeshkian began his address with a reference to residential areas, schools and hospitals that were attacked, describing the assaults as a breach of international law and regulations. According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, at least 6,668 civilian units have been targeted in U.S.-Israeli attacks since the beginning of the war on Feb. 28. Breaking down the figure, it said 5,535 residential units; 1,041 commercial units; 14 medical centers; 65 schools and 13 centers affiliated with the Iranian Red Crescent Society were targeted. Several of these attacks, it said, had damaged rescue and relief vehicles and injured Red Crescent staff carrying out rescue missions.
Pezeshkian also called for unity and solidarity among people to defend the sovereignty of the country and warned that the American desire for “unconditional surrender” was a dream they would carry to their graves.
‘Unconditional surrender’
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a statement on Friday, demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender,” maintaining Washington would accept “no deal” short of this. He said any postwar assistance to Iran would only come after the country accepted new leadership acceptable to Washington and its allies.
The comments came amid an escalating aerial and naval campaign against Iranian military infrastructure. According to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the U.S. and its allies have carried out more than 3,000 strikes on Iranian targets since the beginning of the conflict, including roughly 1,000 strikes in the past several days alone. CENTCOM said the campaign has destroyed or damaged at least 43 Iranian naval vessels and struck command centers, missile launch sites, air-defense systems and facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Military officials say the goal of the operation is to significantly degrade Iran’s ability to project force across the Middle East. CENTCOM also accused Tehran of launching attacks across at least a dozen countries, including missile and drone strikes on U.S. bases and allied installations in the Gulf. The command warned that Iranian strikes on civilian targets in the region would “not go unanswered.” Tehran has already denied several of these allegations, maintaining Israel is targeting Gulf states in the fog of war in a bid to divide Muslims.
Casualties from the conflict continue to rise. Current estimates indicate more than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the start of U.S.–Israeli strikes, with thousands more injured. At least 11 people have been killed in Israel and over 120 in Lebanon amid Israeli operations against Hezbollah. The United States has confirmed the deaths of six service members during the conflict, while several others have been wounded in attacks across the region.
Regional governments had issued increasingly stark warnings as the fighting expanded. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states hosting U.S. troops have warned Tehran against targeting their territory or energy infrastructure, emphasizing that any direct attacks would trigger a decisive response. The warnings follow a series of missile and drone incidents targeting military installations and oil-related infrastructure across the Gulf.
The conflict has also drawn in global powers. U.S. officials say intelligence suggests Russia has been providing Iran with information about American military positions in the Middle East, potentially helping Tehran plan retaliatory strikes. Moscow has not publicly confirmed the reports, but the alleged support marks the first known instance of Russia directly assisting Iran during the war. The White House downplayed the impact of any Russian assistance, with officials saying it has not altered the trajectory of the campaign and insisting that U.S. forces are “decimating” Iranian military capabilities.
Meanwhile, fears are growing that the conflict could widen further as strikes continue across Iran, Lebanon and other parts of the region. With oil prices rising and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz increasingly disrupted, analysts warn the war could evolve into a prolonged regional confrontation with significant global economic consequences if steps aren’t taken to de-escalate.
Timeline of the conflict
The conflict began on Feb. 28, when a series of U.S.-Israel strikes targeted senior Iranian leadership and military facilities around Tehran. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial wave of attacks, triggering immediate retaliation from Tehran.
Feb. 28-March 1: Iran launched large barrages of missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf. Several strikes hit Israel, killing civilians, while U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain were targeted.
March 2: The Pentagon confirmed the first U.S. casualties after an Iranian drone strike on a base in Kuwait killed American service members.
March 3-5: U.S. and Israeli forces escalated air and naval strikes on Iran, targeting naval assets and missile infrastructure. One Iranian drone carrier was reportedly struck and set ablaze during this phase of the campaign.
March 6-7: The U.S. military announced that the number of targets struck had surpassed 3,000, while Trump publicly demanded Iran’s unconditional surrender as the war entered its second week.