MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. It is still possible to settle the crisis around Iran diplomatically, but Iran will not surrender, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said.
"We never shut the door on diplomacy. A diplomatic solution is possible. Iran has never withdrawn from negotiations," he said in an interview with the Vesti program. "We have always engaged in talks and have always been ready. But there are certain conditions. We are not surrendering, and they should not think that they will force us to choose to surrender. They cannot force us to surrender either through war or any other means or negotiations - this will never happen."
"They got to understand and realize, and put up with the fact that we will not surrender. Naturally, we don’t want war," he said. "And we don’t want the conflict to spread. But you cannot indulge in the aggression against us, kill our leader, our citizens, destroy our infrastructure and invite us to the negotiating table without any apologies and compensations. Moreover, he [US President Donald Trump] want to approve our next leader. <…> Now he wants to take part in this process. No way!"
On February 28, the US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were hit. The White House justified the attack by citing missile and nuclear threats allegedly emanating from Tehran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced a large-scale retaliatory operation, attacking facilities in Israel. US targets in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also hit. The strikes on Iran killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other key figures in the Islamic Republic's leadership.