Iran president says peace talks will only succeed without ‘pressure, threats’

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday at a regional summit in Turkmenistan that peace negotiations will only succeed without “pressure and threats”, with the months-long Middle East war locked in a stalemate.
“Dialogue holds meaning and a chance of success only when based on mutual respect and mutual commitments, and when devoid of pressure and threat,” he said during his speech at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit.
“Negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is not negotiation, it is imposition and coercion,” he said, warning that sanctions on Iran would affect “regional trade, connectivity, energy, and order.”
The comments came as Pezeshkian on Monday...