Iran to resist pressure, sanctions: Pezeshkian

TEHRAN, Nov 12: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran will not bow to pressure and sanctions, and will overcome its economic problems by relying on its domestic capabilities.

Pezeshkian made the remarks during a meeting with NechirvanBarzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Turkiye, according to the Iranian presidency.

He said pressure, sanctions and losses suffered by Iran had failed to weaken the will of the country’s people. He said Iran’s enemies could not isolate it economically because it had good friends and neighbours, such as the people of the KRG.

Pezeshkian accused Iran’s enemies of trying to target people’s livelihoods by restricting the routes used to supply basic goods, saying they had even pressured countries in the region to block routes for food and medicine.

He said that, unlike the leaders of some countries, neither Iran’s leaders nor its people would surrender to bullying.

Pezeshkian called for stronger ties with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in all fields, especially trade, while Barzani said the region was ready to expand economic and trade relations with Iran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander-in-chief, Ahmad Vahidi, says the country’s missile development efforts will continue despite threats and sanctions.

In a message marking Aerospace Day, carried by the Tasnim news agency, Vahidi paid tribute to Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, regarded as the founder of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

“Today, with that same spirit, you are building strength for the country in the heart of mountains and deep underground,” Vahidi said, addressing members of the IRGC Aerospace Force.

“The enemy must know that the path of martyr Tehrani Moghaddam cannot be stopped by threats or sanctions. This path continues with blood and faith,” he added.

Vahidi also paid tribute to former IRGC aerospace commanders Amir Ali Hajizadeh and Mahmoud Bagheri, urging personnel to continue strengthening Iran’s military capabilities.

Iran’s armed forces have warned that their response to any new US attack would be “10 times” more severe, after US President Donald Trump threatened that any future strike on Iran would be five times stronger than previous ones.

Brigadier General AbolfazlShekarchi, the senior spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, said that if Trump’s claim were true, the response of Iran’s armed forces would be 10 times as severe, according to Nour News, an outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Shekarchi said Iran’s response would be strong enough to astonish the world, and that the enemy’s material and non-material assets would come under attack. He said US assets would be targeted wherever they were within reach.

He said Iranians did not fear US threats, and that the armed forces were far better prepared than before the war that began in June 2025. Production of strategic military equipment had never stopped, he said, and weaknesses identified during the last two wars had been fixed.

Shekarchi said Iran had proven over the past 47 years that it was not an aggressor, but that it would act as a powerful attacker, not just a defender, in the face of any aggression.

He made the remarks while visiting an exhibition documenting Iran’s recent wars.

Belaili, an adviser to the aerospace force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said an order by Iran’s supreme leader to strike “enemies” without geographical limits will be implemented “at the appropriate time,” in comments reported by Iran’s Mehr news agency.

He said “the enemies have not achieved any result despite using their full capacities previously, and they are facing hesitation regarding any upcoming steps”.

Belaili added: “The more Americans persist, the more they will sink into this swamp they created themselves.”

According to reports, JD Vance is considering direct negotiations with Iran’s security chief to end the war, which the US vice president said played a large role in the Republican Party losing control of both houses of Congress in last week’s midterm elections.

An adviser to the aerospace force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has said Iran is ready to use its missile capability, and that its arsenal is now entirely domestically produced, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

“People can rest assured that we have our finger on the trigger and are ready,” Brigadier General Ali Reza Belaili told Mehr.

He contrasted Iran’s current firepower with the 1980�"1988 war with Iraq.

“During the eight years of the Sacred Defence, we fired a total of 88 missiles. In True Promise, more than 100 missiles a day,” he said, referring to Iran’s missile operations against Israel. �"AL JAZEERA