Iran president says country in ‘full-scale war’ with US

TEHRAN - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on July 20 said his country was in a “full-scale war” with the United States and that Tehran should accept the repercussions of the conflict.

“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said, adding that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance,” he said, according to a presidency statement.

“The most important battlefield today is the economy and the livelihoods of the people,” said the Iranian president in a meeting in Tehran with judicial officials.

“If economic pressures cause social discontent to form and this discontent spreads, the enormous social capital that the people have created in support of the state may be damaged.”

In June, inflation in Iran accelerated sharply due to the war, reaching peaks of nearly 90 per cent year-on-year.

Figures for July are not yet available.

In late December, a protest movement initially sparked by the high cost of living rapidly transformed into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on Jan 8 and Jan 9.

Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, attributing the violence to “terrorist acts” orchestrated by the United States and Israel.

Foreign-based NGOs, however, put the death toll much higher. AFP