An apology by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to neighboring countries for attacks that struck parts of their territories - and his pledge to halt such strikes unless their soil is used to attack Iran - has triggered sharp political debate within Tehran’s ruling establishment.
Lawmakers swiftly condemned the remarks, while military and judicial officials reiterated that US and Israeli interests across the region would remain legitimate targets. The dispute is unfolding at a delicate moment for Iran, following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Pezeshkian framed the apology as a political signal intended to reassure neighbors and prevent a wider regional confrontation. Critics, however, called it “an unjustified concession in the middle of an open war.”
Military and judicial leaders stressed that any US or Israeli base or interest used against Iran would remain a legitimate target — even if located on the territory of other regional states.
The episode has turned the president’s apology from a diplomatic gesture to contain tensions into the center of an internal power struggle, highlighting divisions within Iran’s leadership over the limits and management of the war.
Following Khamenei’s killing, a temporary leadership council assumed his duties. The body consists of Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei and Guardian Council member Alireza Arafi.
In a televised address, Pezeshkian said the council had decided not to target neighboring states or fire missiles at them unless Iran was attacked from their territory.
“I apologize in my name and on behalf of Iran to neighboring countries that Iran attacked,” he said, adding that Tehran does not intend to assault any state.
He said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had acted in recent days “based on a field decision” after senior commanders and the supreme leader were killed at the start of the war.
The comments quickly drew pushback. Mohseni-Ejei said evidence gathered by Iran’s armed forces showed that “the geography of some countries in the region has openly or secretly been placed in the service of the enemy,” allowing their territory to be used for attacks against Iran.
“Severe attacks on these targets will continue,” he said, adding that the strategy was already under way and backed by the government and other pillars of the system.
Iran’s military signaled little appetite for de-escalation. The command of Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, the joint operations center under the armed forces’ general staff, said that although it had “not carried out any aggression” against neighboring states so far, all US and Israeli bases and interests across land, sea and air in the region remained primary targets.
In a statement, the command said the armed forces “respect the interests and sovereignty of neighboring countries and have not carried out any aggression against them so far.” But it warned that if hostile actions continued, all military bases and interests belonging to the United States and the “Zionist entity” would face powerful strikes from Iranian armed forces.
A spokesman for the headquarters said any location from which attacks against Iran are launched would be considered a legitimate target, warning that any attempt to enter the region “will end at the bottom of the Gulf” and that Tehran “will not retreat” in confronting the United States and Israel.
In parliament, Mohammad Manan Raisi, a lawmaker representing Qom, said the president’s “strange apology to neighboring countries is regrettable.”
Addressing Pezeshkian, he wrote: “When will it be time for you to apologize to the Iranian people for these humiliating positions?”
Raisi added that the Assembly of Experts must urgently announce a new supreme leader, saying the president’s “humiliating statements” showed the need to select one as soon as possible.
“Is it not true that neighboring countries placed their land, property and hotels at the service of our enemies?” he said. “Should our military not have attacked these bases and enemy properties that you now apologize for striking in such a humiliating manner?”
Conservative lawmaker Jalal Rashidi Kouchi wrote on X: “With all due respect, Mr. President, an apology is offered when a mistake has been made... but we made no mistake.”
He said the president’s message lacked firmness, appearing weak in wording, delivery and even body language.
Iran’s foreign ministry also warned regional states against allowing their territory or resources to be used for attacks on Iran.
In a statement, it said international law prohibits using a country’s territory, directly or indirectly, to harm another state, citing UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 defining aggression.
Countries whose territory is used to launch military attacks against a third state bear international legal responsibility, including compensation for direct and indirect damages, the ministry said.
It added that Iran had been compelled, under its “inherent and natural right” of self-defense, to carry out necessary and proportionate defensive operations against the bases and facilities of aggressors in the region.
Those operations target facilities and capabilities that serve as sources or launch points for hostile acts against the Iranian people, the ministry said, adding that US bases in the region had not strengthened security but had instead supported “American aggressors and the Zionist entity.”
The ministry stressed that Iran seeks to maintain and develop friendly relations with regional states based on mutual respect, good neighborliness and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Iranian defensive operations against US bases in the region, it added, should not be interpreted as hostility toward neighboring countries.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also weighed in, writing on X that the Islamic Republic’s defense policies are “constant” and rooted in “principles.”
“As long as there are US bases in the region, its countries will not see stability,” he wrote, adding that “all officials and the people are united around this principle.”
The presidency later sought to clarify the president’s remarks. Mehdi Tabatabaei, head of public relations at the presidential office, said the message was straightforward: if regional states do not cooperate with US attacks on Iran, Tehran will not target them.
“The Islamic Republic will not bow to pressure,” he wrote on X. “Our armed forces will respond firmly, according to rules of engagement, to any attack launched from US bases.”
