Iran's Pezeshkian says Tehran will reciprocate if US honors interim deal commitments - report

Pezeshkian participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where several other world leaders were also present.

Iran will immediately reciprocate if the US returns to its commitments under an interim deal signed in June, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Bishkek, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.

Several world leaders are also at the summit, held in Kyrgyzstan's capital, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, India's Narendra Modi, China's Xi Jinping, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Pezeshkian arrived in Kyrgyzstan with the message that Tehran was aiming for diplomacy over armed conflict with the United States, saying this during several sideline meetings with different leaders.

On Monday, he told Modi on the sidelines of the summit that continued war was in no one's interest, and that dialogue and cooperation were the way to resolve existing problems.

According to Iran's semi-official Mehr News, Pezeshkian met Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, and his agenda also included meeting Kyrgyzstan's deputy cabinet chairman, several participating leaders, and the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan on the sidelines of the summit.

Pezeshkian's contact with Mojtaba Khamenei

Last month, Iran's semi-official Tasmin News Agency reported that Pezeshkian had met Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei around the start of the president's third year in office in late July.

Pezeshkian has given differing accounts in recent weeks about his access to Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father in the role in March.

On July 21, the president said interactions with the supreme leader were "increasing day by day", but in early August he said communicating with Khamenei was "very difficult."

The late July meeting covered military affairs and the economy, including securing resources, managing foreign exchange and energy use, and economic ties with foreign partners, according to state media.

In May, state media also reported that Pezeshkian had met Khamenei for several hours, in what was then the first publicly reported meeting between the two since Khamenei became supreme leader.

Khamenei was reportedly seriously injured in the February 28 strike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran. He had also generally kept a low public profile before becoming supreme leader.