Iran’s President Pezeshkian Says Iran Never Sought War, Decision to End Conflict Rests with US

Pezeshkian's framing shifts the onus for de-escalation explicitly onto Washington, casting Iran as a reluctant party to a conflict it says was provoked by Israel. That rhetorical positioning matters less for what it says about Iranian intentions than for what it signals about the diplomatic off-ramp: Tehran is publicly leaving the decision to end hostilities with the US, which narrows the space for third-party mediation. The open question is whether Washington treats that as an opening or as pressure, and whether Israel's role in the framing complicates any US response.