President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran did not seek war with Israel but was ready to deliver “an appropriate response” to strikes on Iranian military sites, AFP reports.

“We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country,” Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, adding that Iran “will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime”.

Pezeshkian blamed the soaring regional tensions on Israel’s “aggression” and US support for the country, which Tehran does not recognise.

“If the aggressions of the Zionist regime and its crimes continue, the tensions will spread,” said the Iranian president.

Pezeshkian added that the United States had “promised to end the war in return for our restraint, but they did not keep their promise”, Pezeshkian added.