“President Pezeshkian expressed openness to de-escalation within our region, provided that our neighbors’ airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People”, Iran’s foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X.

The statement came after Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said neighbouring countries would no longer be targeted unless an attack originates from there.

Shortly after the president’s statement, Iran was hit with attacks, triggering Tehran’s response what it said were US assets in neighbouring Gulf nations.

Araghchi said in his statement that Iran’s “gesture to our neighbors was almost immediately killed by President Trump”.