Dubai, Aug 23: Iran’s president defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way out of a stalled war.
Meanwhile, the new head of the Islamic Republic’s top security body warned, in a more forceful tone, of retaliation if neighbouring countries support US threats to further sanction Tehran.
Pakistan’s army chief planned to travel to Tehran on Monday, Iranian media reported.
A Palestinian man said he was beaten by an Israeli settler outside his home, and Israel’s military said they were pursuing a stabbing suspect in a separate attack, the latest violence in the occupied West Bank.
Iran’s president says his country needs to get past current stall
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of “neither war nor peace.”
In a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday, he said members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council believed the memorandum represented the best possible agreement based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.
“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”
The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding that US President Donald Trump signed in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear programme. That period ended last week, but the two sides remain far apart, with no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.
While stressing that Tehran did not intend to back down in the face of its adversaries, Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Iran’s economic prospects, saying the country could not attract investment in this stalled phase.
“Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk,” he said. “We have to remove this risk from the country.”
Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade that is making it extremely difficult for the country to export oil, its most valuable product.
Pakistan’s army chief to visit Tehran
Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir will lead an official delegation travelling to Tehran on Monday, Iranian state television reported, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei.
Baghaei said the visit aims to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Iran and Pakistan and continue Pakistan’s work to promote peace and security in the region.
The trip announcement came after a phone call between Munir and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which has led several mediation efforts to end the Iran war.
Iran security chief threatens neighbours against possible economic sanctions
Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council threatened Tehran’s neighbours against joining the new US effort to hurt Iran’s economy.
“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” he said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.
Mohsen Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.
Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz — if neighbours join what he described as the economic war against Iran. Those neighbours would be considered enemies and “we will target their interests,” he said.
Trump in the past week has vowed to increase Iran’s pain by imposing an “unprecedented” level of economic warfare and isolation. Iran has lived under sanctions for years.
Palestinian amputee beaten by settler in the West Bank
A Palestinian man, 61, said an Israeli settler struck him with a pipe outside his home in the occupied West Bank, leaving him with bruises and pain, a year after he lost a leg after being shot by a settler.
Saeed Muhammad Ibrahim Rabah told The Associated Press that two settlers arrived with a tractor at his home in Khirbet al-Rakeez in the southern West Bank on Saturday afternoon. One of them began moving stones the family had placed at the property entrance and tried to enter.
One settler struck him on his back with a pipe when he approached them to find out what they were doing, Rabah said. They then left, and he was taken for medical treatment and later returned home with bruising and pain.
The attacks were attempts “to provoke us so that we leave our land, leave our home and move away,” he said.
Rabah said in April 2025, he confronted settlers on his land while his son filmed. One settler began choking his son as another settler grabbed the father, fired two shots into the air and then shot him in the legs, he said. After a delay, he was taken to a hospital where one of his legs was amputated.
Separately, Israel’s military said Sunday they were pursuing the suspect in a stabbing attack that injured a 24-year-old Israeli man in the area of al-Auja, in the eastern West Bank near Jericho. Israel’s emergency services said the victim was taken to a hospital in moderate condition.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank, where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in almost 1,500 attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers this year, according to Palestinian officials. Three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2026. (AP)
