‘We Will Reciprocate’: Pezeshkian Says Iran Ready If US Honours June MoU

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek on Tuesday, called for a multipolar world based on multilateralism, sovereign equality and the rule of law, while accusing the United States of breaching commitments under a June memorandum of understanding. He said Tehran would immediately reciprocate if Washington returned to its commitments under the Islamabad MoU.

Pezeshkian told SCO leaders that shifts in the global balance of power should not simply replace one centre of power with another, warning against hegemony, unilateralism, military force and the use of economic and technological tools as instruments of pressure. He called for a stronger role for the SCO in addressing shared security and economic challenges.

Turning to the latest crisis, Pezeshkian said nearly three months of negotiations mediated by Pakistan and Qatar had produced the Islamabad MoU, but alleged that the United States breached its commitments less than two weeks after signing it. He said Iran would reciprocate immediately if Washington returned to its obligations.

The comments came amid renewed US-Iran military escalation, including the US strike on Larak Island and subsequent Iranian claims of retaliatory missile and drone attacks against US positions in the UAE and Jordan.

The White House said the United States and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding on June 17, with the agreement including provisions concerning the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Persian Gulf towards the Sea of Oman.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry subsequently referred to talks on the implementation of the Islamabad MoU, which had emerged as the framework for the diplomatic process.

Pezeshkian's remarks therefore put the June framework back at the centre of Tehran's diplomatic position, even as the two sides remain locked in a new cycle of military confrontation.

The Iranian president also used the SCO summit to propose deeper financial and banking cooperation among members, an SCO export and investment insurance union, an SCO Energy Consortium, a Strategic Security Studies Centre and a Parliamentary Forum. He argued that the future of multilateralism depended on maintaining dialogue and building effective mechanisms for cooperation.

For now, Tehran's position is conditional: Iran says it is prepared to reciprocate, but only after Washington returns to the commitments Pezeshkian says it made under the Islamabad MoU.