Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in New Delhi for the 18th BRICS summit, said Iran will not surrender to pressure from the United States and Israel, rejected claims that Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons, and said his government is ready for nuclear talks inside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty framework — but not for immediate direct negotiations with President Donald Trump after the killing of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war that began Feb. 28.

The remarks came in an exclusive interview with India Today Group Editor (Foreign Affairs) Geeta Mohan, published Saturday, Sept. 12 / early Sept. 13 local time, as Pezeshkian attended BRICS meetings in India. They are a distinct Iranian leadership line from the U.S. end-of-war talk Trump floated in Dublin the same day and from battlefield and shipping updates already on this desk.

In a post on X quoted by India Today, Pezeshkian accused Washington of hitting civilian systems rather than fighting Iran’s armed forces:

“If Americans are warriors, let them face our valiant military forces. Why wage war on civilian infrastructure, food supplies, and livelihoods?” he wrote. “If they're human, why deny people access to water, food, and medicine? Our people can't be bullied into submission. Iran won't surrender.”

Those are Iranian claims about the character of U.S. and Israeli strikes. Independent casualty tallies, named facilities, and battle damage are not established in the India Today report and are not invented here. Readers should treat both sides’ unverified targeting narratives with the same skepticism this publication applies to concentrated wartime power claims generally.

NPT membership, monitoring, and nuclear-weapons denials

Pezeshkian rejected allegations that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and said Tehran’s program had operated within internationally recognized rules, pointing to Iran’s NPT membership.

“If we were seeking nuclear weapons, we wouldn't have become a member of NPT. Now they are bringing about alibis and pretexts to attack our soil,” he told India Today.

He said Iran’s nuclear activities had faced extensive international monitoring and that Tehran remained ready to negotiate nuclear issues within the NPT framework. “They exercise the greatest amount of monitoring regarding nuclear activities in Iran on a daily basis,” he said, adding that Iran had “worked within the framework of international principles.” He also asked what concrete evidence Washington and Tel Aviv had for their nuclear-ambition claims, calling those claims propaganda — again, his characterization, not an independent finding.

Pezeshkian separately questioned why Israel’s nuclear capabilities draw less international scrutiny given Israel’s non-membership in the NPT, and he accused the U.S. and Israel of using Iran’s opposition to Israeli policies and its support for Palestinians as pretexts for military action. He condemned what he described as Israeli and U.S. actions in Gaza and Lebanon that kill civilians and restrict essential supplies, and criticized international silence — claims that should be weighed against primary reporting from those theaters, not taken as settled fact from a single interview.

No immediate Trump talks after Khamenei’s killing

Pezeshkian said Tehran is prepared to resume nuclear negotiations but ruled out an immediate return to direct talks with the United States, citing a severe loss of trust. Direct talks with Trump would be especially difficult, he said, after Khamenei was killed on day one of the war.

“They have martyred our leader on what basis? It is very difficult for our society,” Pezeshkian said, arguing Iranian society could not be expected to jump straight back into direct negotiations.

Asked whether Tehran would agree to direct talks with Trump without preconditions, he said Iran could not take that decision immediately. He claimed Tehran had later reached an understanding with the U.S. and signed a memorandum of understanding, then alleged Washington abandoned the agreement. Iran’s position, he said, remains that sanctions should be lifted and that the United States should stop attacking the country. The MoU claim is Pezeshkian’s account; the India Today piece does not independently publish the document.

Regional security pitch — and BRICS closed-door line

Pezeshkian called for Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and other regional states to build a joint peace and security framework. “There is no reason for this region to be in conflict,” he said, arguing Middle Eastern countries could develop cooperative mechanisms similar to those Europeans built after centuries of war, while preserving national identities and expanding trade. He said Tehran had “no problem” with the United Arab Emirates and called the UAE and other neighbors “brothers,” citing longstanding commercial and social ties.

In a separate closed-door BRICS leaders’ session in New Delhi on Saturday, Mehr News reported Pezeshkian urged reform of international governance mechanisms, equal respect for sovereignty, non-discriminatory enforcement of international law, practical multilateral steps such as trade in national currencies and independent payment systems, and action against unilateral sanctions. He also urged BRICS members to oppose attacks on civilian infrastructure, including peaceful nuclear facilities — again presenting Iranian state framing of the war.

For wider war context already covered here: Trump’s Dublin comments on a possible end-date after the midterms, CENTCOM’s ship-redirection tallies in the Hormuz “steel wall,” and Iraq’s weekend border closures after drone-launcher finds near Iran are separate threads — not the same story as Pezeshkian’s New Delhi interview.

Sources