TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian came under fire Tuesday after voicing support for renewed talks with the United States, with critics accusing him of being “too soft” in the wake of last month’s attacks on the country.
The backlash followed the release of an interview with US media personality Tucker Carlson, in which Pezeshkian said Iran had “no problem” resuming talks so long as trust could be rebuilt between the two sides.
His comments came less than a month after Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on June 13 that killed senior military commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran.
The Israeli attacks took place two days before a planned meeting between Tehran and Washington aimed at reviving nuclear negotiations. The talks have since stalled.
“Have you forgotten that these same Americans, together with the Zionists, used the negotiations to buy time and prepare for the attack?” said an editorial in the hardline Kayhan newspaper, which has long opposed engagement with the West.
The United States, which had been in talks with Iran since April 12, joined Israel in carrying out its own strikes on June 22, targeting Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The conservative Javan daily also took aim at Pezeshkian, saying his remarks appeared “a little too soft”.
“We believe the real meaning of a conversation with an American presenter is conveyed when the words reflect the public’s anger and total distrust of America,“ it said.
In contrast, the reformist Ham Mihan newspaper praised Pezeshkian’s “positive approach”.
“This interview should have been conducted a long time ago,“ it wrote, adding that “Iranian officials have unfortunately long been absent from the international and American media landscape.”
Iranian authorities say the Israeli strikes killed at last 1,060 people. Israel, in turn, was hit by waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, which authorities said left dead at least 28 people.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24. – AFP
