A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Iran is “open” to co-operation with western states, despite accusing the US of “unconditional” support for Israel.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister with close links to Khamenei, told the Financial Times the Islamic republic was reassessing its foreign policy to enable better relations with countries, including European nations.
“The Islamic Republic is open to co-operation with any western state that seeks genuine interaction with Iran, provided it respects Iran’s sovereignty and treats us as an equal,” Velayati said a day after Israeli warplanes struck multiple military targets across three provinces in Iran.
“We are actively redefining a new balance in relations with western, eastern and developing countries. We welcome friendship with any country, from Europe to Asia or Africa.”
Analysts in Tehran anticipate that the Islamic republic will refrain from an immediate military response, signalling its caution towards igniting a regional conflict.
Since the reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian won elections in July, Iran has expressed interest in recalibrating its foreign policy and resuming nuclear negotiations with world powers to alleviate US-imposed economic pressure.
However, soaring tensions with Israel since Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack have complicated the Pezeshkian government’s already limited prospects of improving relations with the west.
Only hours after Pezeshkian’s inauguration, Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran allegedly by Israel. Iran chose not to respond, despite vowing to avenge his death, as Pezeshkian refrained from closing doors to new diplomatic initiatives while seeking support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
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When Israel assassinated Hizbollah’s leader and Iran’s primary regional ally, Hassan Nasrallah, along with a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in Beirut last month, Iran retaliated with a barrage of 180 ballistic missiles, some of which targeted an intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Israel launched a retaliatory air assault early on Saturday morning, marking the biggest conventional military attack against Iran since the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The strikes targeted military installations and air defence systems in Tehran, the south-western province of Khuzestan and the western province of Ilam.
Iran confirmed that four soldiers had been killed, but withheld details on the damage. Iran’s leadership said the country reserved the right to respond and will do so at an appropriate time. Khamenei signalled a measured response on Sunday, interpreted domestically as indicating no immediate reprisal.
On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Tehran would continue its diplomatic efforts to prevent the expansion of war in the region, while reserving the right to respond to the Israeli attack.
“Contacts are constantly being made through diplomatic channels. We still believe in using diplomacy as an approach towards regional de-escalation,” Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference.
Velayati dismissed the Israeli strikes as “much ado about nothing” and accused Israel of fuelling regional instability. “In its role as a warmongering entity, the regime has the potential to set the volatile Middle East region on fire, and to create the spark that would set the regional powder keg alight,” he said.
Arab governments condemned Israel’s actions, warning that sustained confrontation between Iran and Israel risked destabilising the region further.
“We have never started any wars, as attested by history, and the Iran-Iraq war served as a vivid example of that policy. Still, we would confront an act of aggression in a way that would make any aggressor regret what they did,” Velayati said.
While Iran’s government has prioritised strengthening relations with neighbouring states, it is also working to repair strained ties with European countries and remains open to resuming discussions on a nuclear stand-off with the US.
Western diplomats in Tehran confirm a change in tone in their discussions with Iranian officials under Pezeshkian, though they note that substantive policy shifts have yet to materialise.
Iran’s relations with Europe have been under increasing strain following accusations that Tehran is supplying drones and missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war — an allegation Tehran denies.
“Iranian officials tell us that Europe left Iran no choice but to side with Russia,” said a senior western diplomat in Tehran. “But Iran’s relations with Europe can improve despite tensions with the United States.”
Iran’s relations with the US are expected to remain more complex.
Tehran is awaiting the outcome of next week’s presidential elections to assess the possibility of reviving nuclear talks. In 2015, Iran reached a nuclear agreement with world powers, only for then-president Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal, subsequently reimposing extensive sanctions. In response, Iran accelerated uranium enrichment to levels approaching weapons-grade.
“What [US President Joe] Biden says quietly, Trump says openly. We have experience in dealing with both and do not have a good history of negotiations with the US,” said Velayati. “We don’t believe in US goodwill. The US’s direct, unconditional support for Israel and its simultaneous calls for de-escalation through intermediaries are simply two sides of the same coin.”