Tehran, Iran – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said Tehran remains at the negotiating table after halting its attacks on Israel following the first major exchange of fire since the April truce.
"Our priority is national security and the peace of our people," Pezeshkian wrote in Persian on X. "We will defend the rights of the nation with authority and will not retreat in the face of any threat."
"Diplomacy and defense are the two wings of national power; we have neither abandoned the field, nor the negotiating table," he continued. "God willing, with unity and rationality, Iran will emerge triumphant from this trial as well."
Iran's military command announced minutes earlier it was ending its operation against Israel, which had been met by a series of retaliatory strikes that threatened to end a fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
Iran had delivered a "painful response" to Israel and "accordingly, the cessation of armed forces operations is hereby announced," the Khatam al-Anbiya command said in a statement carried by state television.
"However, it is emphasized that should acts of aggression and hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow," it added.
The news comes shortly after President Donald Trump hinted at a potential ceasefire and peace deal in a post on social media. In an earlier message, he had demanded that they "immediately stop 'shooting.'"
"Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Final negotiations on 'Peace' are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way."