Pezeshkian backs stalled US memorandum as Iran mixes diplomacy with threats of retaliation
By Muhmmad Irfan I SCN NEWS
TEHRAN — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a stalled memorandum with the United States on Sunday as the best available route out of months of conflict, exposing a striking dual strategy inside Tehran as its new security chief simultaneously warned neighboring states against helping Washington intensify economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.
Pezeshkian said the memorandum signed with the United States in mid-June offered Iran its best chance of escaping what he described as a condition of “neither war nor peace,” even though the 60-day negotiating period envisioned by the arrangement has expired without producing a comprehensive settlement. He rejected criticism that the agreement represented Iranian capitulation and said Tehran remained guided by policies established by the country's supreme leadership.
The intervention is significant because it comes after weeks in which the diplomatic framework appeared close to collapse. The memorandum was intended to create a 60-day window for negotiations toward ending the conflict and addressing wider disputes, but Washington and Tehran failed to resolve central issues, particularly the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the terms of a broader settlement.
The result is an unusual strategic limbo. Reuters reported on Saturday that the United States and Iran were neither actively exchanging fire nor conducting substantive peace negotiations, even as Washington prepared another major sanctions campaign and Tehran threatened consequences if pressure intensified.
Pezeshkian's remarks therefore amount to more than a defense of a failed diplomatic document. They indicate that at least one important centre of Iranian power wants to preserve the framework rather than allow the conflict to slide back toward unrestricted military confrontation.
But another message is emerging simultaneously from Tehran.
Mohsen Rezaei, the recently appointed head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned neighboring countries against participating in U.S.-led economic pressure. According to AP, Rezaei said Iran could retaliate against alternative regional oil-export routes if neighboring states joined Washington's threatened sanctions campaign.
That creates the central tension in Iran's current strategy.
The president is publicly defending diplomacy.
The country's top security apparatus is publicly advertising potential retaliation.
And Washington is preparing economic escalation.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that Washington would impose what he called the “toughest sanctions in history” against Iran. President Donald Trump has also threatened consequences for countries continuing to support Tehran economically, extending the confrontation beyond Iran itself toward governments and companies maintaining commercial relationships with it.
Iran has dismissed those threats as evidence of American desperation. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Sunday that previous U.S. military and economic pressure had failed to force Tehran to surrender its strategic positions.
The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the confrontation.
Iran's restrictions on shipping through the waterway have severely disrupted a route normally responsible for a major share of global petroleum trade. Reuters reported that only seven commodity vessels passed through the strait on Thursday, illustrating how far traffic remains below normal conditions.
That gives Tehran leverage even while sanctions place enormous pressure on its own economy.
Oil markets remain sensitive to every sign of escalation. Prices rose last week after Trump threatened sanctions against countries supporting Iran, demonstrating that economic pressure intended to weaken Tehran can simultaneously increase uncertainty around global energy supplies.
The unresolved Hormuz dispute also explains why the memorandum has failed to produce a durable settlement. Tehran has linked reopening the waterway to U.S. concessions, while Washington has resisted Iranian demands and introduced claims of its own, including calls for compensation related to casualties and damage during the conflict.
The military confrontation, meanwhile, has entered an equally unusual phase.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Iranian officials were threatening to move toward a “fully offensive” posture if diplomacy failed, even as neither side appeared eager to immediately resume the most intense phase of direct fighting.
That makes Pezeshkian's language particularly revealing.
Iran's president is not claiming the June memorandum succeeded. He is arguing that returning to its basic framework remains preferable to continuing an indefinite condition in which the shooting may temporarily diminish but the war itself remains unresolved.
This is effectively diplomacy under coercion from both directions.
Washington is attempting to increase the economic cost of Iran refusing a settlement acceptable to the United States.
Tehran is preserving the threat that escalation could again disrupt Gulf security and global energy flows.
Between those positions, Pezeshkian is arguing that the abandoned negotiating framework remains the least damaging exit.
A new regional diplomatic channel may now become important.
Iranian media reported that Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is expected in Tehran on Monday, with regional security and de-escalation among the issues surrounding the visit.
That development deserves particular attention because Pakistan has maintained channels with Iran while also engaging Washington, giving Islamabad potential space to communicate between sides whose direct diplomatic relationship remains severely constrained.
Pakistan is not the only intermediary. Qatar and Oman have also played significant roles in efforts to construct a settlement. Qatar said earlier this month that mediators had made progress, while Oman has been central to discussions concerning Hormuz.
Yet Sunday's developments demonstrate why mediation remains difficult.
Iran is simultaneously communicating willingness to negotiate and readiness to escalate. Washington is simultaneously avoiding a renewed full-scale exchange of fire while preparing unprecedented economic sanctions.
Neither side appears prepared to concede the leverage it believes brought the other to negotiations in the first place.
That may explain why Pezeshkian's defense of the memorandum matters more than whether the original 60-day deadline succeeded.
The agreement has technically failed to deliver the peace settlement it promised.
But Tehran's president is effectively arguing that the framework should survive its deadline.
For Washington, that creates a choice between testing whether the diplomatic opening can be reconstructed or relying increasingly on sanctions to force Iranian concessions.
For Tehran, the choice is equally difficult: compromise on issues including Hormuz and nuclear negotiations, or risk another cycle of economic and potentially military escalation.
And for Gulf states, the stakes are immediate. Rezaei's warning suggests Tehran could view regional participation in U.S. economic pressure not merely as diplomacy but as hostile action warranting retaliation.
Iran's message on Sunday is therefore deliberately complicated: Pezeshkian is keeping the door to Washington open while Tehran's security establishment is making clear that the cost of closing that door could extend beyond Iran itself.
That combination — diplomacy backed by regional deterrence — may now define the next phase of the conflict.
SCN MOST VERIFIED & UNIQUE FACT
The strongest development is the contrast inside Tehran's messaging on the same day.
Pezeshkian publicly defended the U.S. memorandum as the best way out of “neither war nor peace.” At virtually the same moment, Iran's new security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned neighboring countries that supporting Washington's sanctions campaign could trigger Iranian retaliation against alternative oil-shipping routes.
Add a third development: Field Marshal Asim Munir is expected in Tehran on Monday, according to Iranian media, placing Pakistan inside the diplomatic picture just as Washington prepares another sanctions escalation.