Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said that Iran has several possible paths to address the ongoing regional tensions, including negotiations conducted with “dignity” and “authority”. He also emphasised that the country’s military achievements must be strengthened through diplomacy, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

As per the ISNA, Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with the commander-in-chief along with a group of senior commanders of the Faraj police force. He also received a report of the force’s performance during what Iranian officials termed as the “recent imposed war.”

Speaking about Iran’s future course, Pezeshkian also stressed the need to strengthen the Iran’s internal security apparatus

Pezeshkian stressed “the necessity of strengthening the structure, equipment, and developing the role of the Faraj grassroots in ensuring the country’s internal security,” according to ISNA.

Iranian President also said Tehran had several options ahead of it. 

“We now have various options; either we enter into negotiations with dignity, authority, and preservation of national interests and realise the rights of the Iranian nation, or we remain in a state of neither war nor peace, or we continue the path of war and confrontation,” Pezeshkian said.

The Iranian president said Tehran favours diplomacy pursued from a position of military strength and in line with the country’s national interests.

“The rational, logical, and national interest-based preference is that the victory achieved by the armed forces on the battlefield is also completed in the field of diplomacy and the rights of the Iranian nation are established from a position of dignity and authority,” he said.

Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran’s proposals were designed not only to safeguard the country’s national interests, but also to promote regional and global stability.

“In our proposal, we only raised Iran’s legitimate rights. Everything we proposed in the text was reasonable and generous,” Baghaei said, adding “Not only for Iran’s national interests but for the good and welfare of the region and the world. The American parties continue to insist on their unreasonable demands.”

Baghaei said Iran sees itself as a responsible regional power and dissmissed allgeations of coercive behaviour, stressing Washington must end its pressure campaign against Tehran. 

“Our demands are legitimate: an end to the war, the lifting of the blockade, a halt to acts of maritime piracy, and the release of Iranian assets unjustly frozen in banks under US pressure,” he said.