TEHERAN: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed launching strikes on Iran as President Masoud Pezeshkian warned no one would benefit from a return to war.
It came as US voters prepared to cast their ballots in midterm elections that threaten Trump's grip on power.
Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the Islamic republic was "ready for battle with its finger on the trigger", while deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran retained the right to "legitimate self-defence" after the strikes.
But Pezeshkian said his government was still trying to resolve the crisis "through dialogue", adding that "no one will benefit from this war" if it reignited, and emphasising that the country's supreme leader had recently granted the government new powers to negotiate issues that were previously "off-limits."
