Pezeshkian, Ahead of SCO Summit Departure: Iran Not Seeking War But Will Respond Decisively to Aggression

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on the morning of Monday, 9 Shahrivar 1405 (August 31, 2026), before leaving Tehran for Kyrgyzstan to attend the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, according to IRNA as carried by Donya-e-Eqtesad, that Iran is not seeking war but will respond to any aggression with strength and resolve. The remarks came hours after the US strike on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the IRGC's retaliatory missile strikes on US bases in Jordan.

Pezeshkian said instability in the region harms every country and stressed the need for regional convergence to advance economic and security goals. On the Shanghai summit in Kyrgyzstan, he said the gathering, attended by most regional leaders, symbolizes the existence of independent voices on the world stage, and voiced hope that bilateral talks on its sidelines would help the region's security, economic and political trajectory.

According to Al Jazeera, the leaders of Russia and China are also due to meet at the same summit, a gathering the outlet said is not officially anti-Western but has previously been used to amplify the two countries' shared worldview against the West.