Iran: Pezeshkian makes return to commitments conditional on Washington

Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian has called on the United States to return to the memorandum of understanding signed in June, presented as a framework for ending the war in the Middle East. At a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kyrgyzstan, he said Iran would immediately resume its own commitments if Washington did the same.

The Iranian head of state said the lack of guarantees that the United States would honour the agreement, along with what he described as a return to a policy of pressure and threats, was undermining diplomatic prospects.

An agreement weakened by the resumption of fighting

The so-called Islamabad protocol was concluded in mid-June between the United States and Iran. It was intended to end hostilities that began in late February following US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

The agreement was nevertheless undermined as early as the beginning of July by a resumption of fighting. After a month-long lull in August, the United States struck the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Iran then targeted US sites in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, according to an account reported by AFP. At the end of August, Washington had also imposed secondary sanctions on Iran's trading partners.

Russian support on the sidelines of the SCO summit

On the sidelines of the meeting in Bishkek, Massoud Pezeshkian thanked Vladimir Putin for his positions on the conflict. The Russian president, for his part, expressed his solidarity with the Iranian people and his support for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The summit marks the SCO's 25th anniversary. The organisation includes China, India, Iran, Russia, Pakistan and several Central Asian states. Seventeen heads of state and government are taking part, including the Chinese, Russian, Iranian and Turkish presidents.