Iran’s president: It’s up to US to choose if it wants to end war - Rappler

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IRANIAN LEADER. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 23, 2026.

WASHINGTON, USA – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says it is up to the United States to choose when the Iran war will end, when he is asked if the conflict could end by the end of the year.

“It’s America that must choose whether it wants to end this or not,” Pezeshkian says, responding to the question in an interview aired on Thursday evening, September 24, on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” show.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart agree that only a diplomatic settlement could end tension in the Middle East sparked by the US-Israeli war against Iran.

“Current regional and international issues were discussed with emphasis on the situation around Iran,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry says in a statement after Lavrov and Iran’s Abbas Araqchi meet in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“It was stressed that there is no alternative to a diplomatic settlement of the crisis provoked by the illegal actions of the United States and Israel.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pezeshkian signed a strategic cooperation partnership in 2025 which provides for a deepening of bilateral ties and closer defense cooperation, but includes no mutual defense clause.

Each side has provided the other with military know-how and equipment.

Pezeshkian thanked Putin earlier this month for Moscow’s position on the Iran war and said together, Moscow and Tehran can resist what he called US “unilateralism”.

Pezeshkian says in an interview published on Thursday that it is up to the US to choose when the Iran war will end, when asked if the conflict could end by the end of the year. – Rappler.com