TBILISI/RIYADH: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied Friday that Tehran sought nuclear weapons, expressed readiness for dialogue and condemned US sanctions during talks with Georgia's prime minister. In his meeting with Georgian premier Irakli Kobakhidze, Pezeshkian also called for closer ties with Georgia, weeks after Tbilisi cut aviation links between the two countries following US sanctions targeting Iranian airlines.
The two met on the sidelines of a UN biodiversity summit in Armenia's capital Yerevan. "Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, and we consider the malicious propaganda against our country to be lies," Pezeshkian said, according to a statement from his office.
"We have always been ready for dialogue. They think they can force us to surrender, but we will not bow to coercion," he added, calling US sanctions against Tehran "unjustifiable and inhumane".
In his meeting with Kobakhidze, Pezeshkian also called for a clear timetable to expand cooperation between Tehran and Tbilisi, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported. It said the leaders had discussed bilateral ties and regional security, with Kobakhidze stressing the "importance of dialogue and diplomacy to achieve de-escalation and lasting peace".
The Iranian president at a nature summit in Armenia urged countries to condemn what he called "ecocide" in the Middle East caused by "wars of aggression". The summit was also attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Pezeshkian said the conflicts in Gaza and the wider Middle East had inflicted a significant toll on nature that extended beyond borders and required "international solutions". "What has occurred in our region as a result of wars of aggression is ecocide, or environmental genocide, and it must be condemned," he said.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said that it intercepted missiles and drones over Riyadh and other areas, as the kingdom comes under sustained attack from its Iran-backed foes. "We intercepted and destroyed three drones in the southern area and Riyadh... and two cruise missiles over the Red Sea," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki wrote on X.
He added that "in the past hours, we intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile over Yanbu", a city home to the terminus of a major oil pipeline on the Red Sea coast. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council "condemned in the strongest terms continued and escalatory Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", as well as their "attacks and threats against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab" Strait, the southern gateway to the Suez Canal.
The Security Council also denounced the group's "reckless strikes" on Riyadh's airport, which the Saudi-led coalition said had been targeted at least 20 times so far this month. Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani denounced the "cowardly" act on X, calling it a "continuation of (the Houthis') criminal pattern".
A government minister said on condition of anonymity that Zindani had been present at the time, but "was not harmed in any way". The minister said the Houthis hit a command centre for Yemeni government forces at the complex with three missiles, and another for Saudi coalition forces with two missiles.
Meanwhile, crammed with beds and stretchers, the dilapidated Al Jumhuri hospital in Yemen continues to struggle amidst ongoing conflicts.