Analysis: how should we interpret Pezeshkian’s statement?
Patrick Wintour
The announcement by Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian that Iran will no longer attack Gulf and neighbouring states if they are not attacking Iran appears on the surface a significant change in tactics, reflecting the overpowering diplomatic pressure Iran was under to change course, or risk uniting the whole of the Arab world against Iran. It would be an admission that Iran’s current military strategy is heading for diplomatic disaster.
But the precise implications of his announcement remains open to interpretation. An Iranian armed forces spokesperson seemed to qualify its meaning heavily by saying:
double quotation markStrikes against the US and Israeli assets will continue. So far, we have targeted every base that was the origin of aggression against Iran and we remain committed to this matter. Countries that have not provided space and facilities to the United States and the Zionist regime have not been our target so far and will not be targeted in the future.
If the armed forces believe countries simply providing land, in terms of bases, remain legitimate targets, then effectively nothing has changed since there are US bases in almost every Gulf State. What Pezeshkian seemed to imply is that these countries will not be attacked if the US bases and airspace are not being used to attack Iran, an altogether different proposition.
Whether this reflects an internal disagreement, a reinterpretation of the decision taken by Pezeshkian and other members of Iran’s temporary executive council or simply a more hardline way of explaining the political leadership’s decision, time will tell. It is a test of where power lies in Iran in wartime.
But it was significant too that Pezeshkian chose to apologise and to argue Iran wanted to be on the right side of international law. Many lawyers claimed Iran’s attacks on US bases in the region could be justified as acts of self-defence, but the wider attacks on Gulf infrastructure and oil installations could not.
If Pezeshkian’s promise is translated into reality then Iran hopes the path to reunite the region and the focus can shift back to what it regards as the injustice of the US attacks in the midst of diplomacy.
The pressure to relent has been coming from all the Gulf states, but notably countries that have tried to be close to Iran, including Oman, Turkey and Qatar. Some of the phone conversations have been said to be seething.
Updated at 05.23 EST
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Since the start of US and Israeli airstrikes, more than 6,000 civilian structures across Iran have sustained damage, according to a social media statement from Pir Hossein Kolivand, president of the Iranian Red Crescent.
The destruction spans several sectors of civilian infrastructure, including:
5,535 residential units
1,041 commercial buildings
65 schools
14 medical centers
13 Red Crescent facilities
A handout satellite image shows airstrike damage to naval halls at Bushehr airbase in Iran following Israel-US airstrikes. Photograph: SATELLITE IMAGE ©2026 VANTOR/EPAShare
The Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said he had spoken to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who said a scheme for Iranian Kurdish forces based in northern Iraq to attack Iran was “not their intention”.
Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Fidan said Rubio’s comments came in a recent phone call. Instead, the minister accused Israel of using Kurdish groups as “a proxy” in the region.
Strategies that “aim to create ethnic rivalry or an ethnic conflict in Iran would be something we oppose because it would be the most dangerous scenario”, Fidan said. He said that Turkey had been talking to Kurdish leaders to prevent such a “historic mistake”.
He added that Turkey had been involved in “intense diplomatic traffic” to produce a “formula to end this war”.
Updated at 15.27 EST
Patrick Wintour
The surprise offer by the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, to not attack countries in the neighbourhood so long as their airspace and US bases within their territories are not used to attack Iran has provoked a storm inside the country as the military appeared to contradict him, if not outright overrule him.
There were also calls for a new supreme leader to be installed as quickly as possible, as a means of marginalising the president. Attacks on facilities in Bahrain and elsewhere have continued, and there were unconfirmed reports that Bahrain had become the first Gulf country to fire back at Iran.
Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, seemed focused on the likelihood of escalation, rather than de-escalation.
“The US had committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The US set this precedent, not Iran.”
There are as many as 400 water desalination plants across the Gulf, and if they come to be viewed as legitimate targets, a drinking water crisis of unimaginable proportions could face the region within days.
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One person was killed in Dubai after debris from a missile that was shot down fell on to a car in the Al Barsha neighborhood, according to the Dubai Media Office.
The victim was a Pakistani driver, according to the statement. No further identifying information was given.
Updated at 14.42 EST
A military aircraft carrying the remains of US service members killed in the Middle East has touched down at Dover air force base in Delaware. Donald Trump and senior administration officials are in attendance for the transfer ceremony.
These ceremonies, marking the return of fallen service members to US soil, are traditionally held at Dover, which serves as the military’s primary mortuary facility.
Joining the president at the ceremony are JD and Usha Vance, Melania Trump, Pete Hegseth and various cabinet officials.
Donald Trump is greeted as he arrives in Dover, Delaware, on 7 March 2026. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/ReutersShare
Updated at 14.34 EST
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan warned Iran on Saturday against firing any more missiles towards Turkey, after Nato air defences destroyed a missile heading into Turkish airspace several days ago.
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Fidan said Turkey opposed all scenarios aiming to create ethnicity-based civil war in Iran, adding that such scenarios could lead to immigrant waves.
Updated at 14.11 EST
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar has spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, about the evolving situation in the region.
In a post on social media, Dar said “the two leaders exchanged views on recent developments and agreed to remain in touch”.
Updated at 13.53 EST
Iran’s foreign minister says Netanyahu ‘managed to dupe’ Trump ‘into fighting Israel’s wars’
Robert Mackey
Iran’s foreign minister warned in a statement posted on social media that Donald Trump had misinterpreted the statement by Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in which he apologized to neighboring Gulf states and promised to stop strikes against them, unless an attack against Iran originated from those countries.
Trump claimed in a belligerent social media post that Pezeshkian’s apology meant that Iran had “surrendered to its Middle East neighbors” and promised that “Iran will be hit very hard”.
In his new statement, posted on X, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also called the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran “a war of choice pursued by a small cabal of ‘Israel Firsters’”, echoing the concerns of some Trump supporters who believe that the US offensive is motivated primarily by Israel’s foreign policy objectives.
Here is his complete statement:
double quotation markPresident Pezeshkian’s openness to de-escalation within our region-provided that our neighbors’ airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian People-was almost immediately killed by President Trump’s misinterpretation of our capabilities, determination and intent. If Mr Trump seeks escalation, it is precisely what our Powerful Armed Forces have long been prepared for, and what he will get.
Responsibility for any intensification of Iran’s exercise of self-defense will lie squarely with the US Administration.
Mr Trump’s week-long misadventure has already cost the US military $100 Billion, in addition to the lives of young soldiers. When markets reopen, that cost will balloon and directly be transferred to ordinary Americans at pumping stations.
Mr Trump’s own National Intelligence Council, representing input from the 18 intelligence agencies of the US, determined that war on Iran is destined to fail.
I also warned Mr Trump’s envoys that war will not improve their bargaining position. Were these warnings conveyed?
The American People voted to end involvement in costly quagmires in the Middle East. Instead, they have ended up with an Administration that Netanyahu, after decades of failed attempts, finally managed to dupe into fighting Israel’s wars.
This is a war of choice pursued by a small cabal of ‘Israel Firsters’, and ‘Israel First’ always means ‘America Last’.
Updated at 14.04 EST
The attacks on freshwater desalination plants in the Gulf region have posed a threat to further escalate the war, potentially setting a precedent of destroying civilian water supplies.
Seyed Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, said in an X post: “The US committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island. Water supply in 30 villages has been impacted. Attacking Iran’s infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The US set this precedent, not Iran.”
An Iranian news analyst, Trita Parsi, replied by writing: “The US has struck Iranian desalination plants. If Iran responds in kind by striking desalination plants in GCC, the situation for Iran’s Arab neighbours will be devastating. It appears the Iranian FM is hinting at that in his last sentence here.
Kaveh Madani, director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, said in a social media post: “The reported strike on a desalination plant on Qeshm Island is deeply worrying. Millions depend on desalination across the Middle East.” He added that “damage to water infrastructure, whether intentional or accidental, sets a dangerous precedent and risks depriving civilians of drinking water”.
Updated at 14.00 EST
José Olivares
US government reviews of the war in Iran show that the Trump administration may be ill-equipped for a regime-change war, according to reports.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday morning that a classified intelligence review found that the war in Iran is unlikely to oust the Iranian establishment, despite the Trump administration’s desire to continue its attacks.
At the same time, Democrats are warning that the airstrikes on Iran are diminishing US stockpiles of certain weapons, a point of concern that came up during a closed-door briefing earlier this week between Trump administration officials and members of Congress.
Despite ongoing negotiations, the US and Israel began bombing Iran last week, during a campaign that assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders. Iran has engaged in retaliatory strikes, targeting Israel, US installations in the region and several Middle Eastern countries hosting US bases.
Since the strikes began, the Trump administration has claimed that Iran has attempted to negotiate a ceasefire, despite multiple reports showing the contrary.
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Updated at 14.06 EST
Donald Trump plans to attend the dignified transfer for the six US soldiers killed in the Middle East. On Saturday afternoon, Trump will join their mourning families at Delaware’s Dover air force base as the soldiers’ remains return to the US.
Trump said at an event in Miami before his trip to Delaware that the fallen service members were heroes “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home”, according to the Associated Press. He said it was “a very sad situation” and he pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum”.
Those killed in action were Sgt first class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief warrant officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt first class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist.
The six members of the army reserve, who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait, were all from the 103rd sustainment command based in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water, ammunition, transport equipment and supplies. They died just one day after the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran.
Updated at 14.10 EST
Iran’s parliament speaker said Saturday that the attack on a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island was carried out with support from one of the airbases in a southern neighboring country.
He did not name the country. “The crime will receive a proportionate response,” he said.
Updated at 14.10 EST