Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday (March 28, 2026) warned the Gulf nations not to allow their territory to be used for waging war on Tehran.
Even as Tehran warned its neighbours, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on a possible diplomatic settlement for the West Asian war.
Pezeshkian told the neighbouring countries to stop backing the US-Israel war on Iran, and advised them not to allow their land to be used for military strikes on Tehran.
“We have said many times that Iran doesn’t carry out preemptive attacks, but we will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centres are targeted,” Pezeshkian posted on X.
“To the countries of the region: If you want development and security, don’t let our enemies run the war from your lands,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lavrov spoke with Araghchi on the impact of the West Asian conflict and possible diplomatic measures to end the war.
“The ministers discussed in detail the most difficult military-political crisis in the Middle East (West Asia), which erupted as a result of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against Iran,” the Russian Foreign Ministry announced after the two leaders talked.
“There was an exchange of views on the prospects of shifting the conflict into a channel for a political-diplomatic settlement based on international law and taking into account the legitimate interests of all countries in the region,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.
It said, Lavrov outlined details of Russia’s most recent shipment of humanitarian aid to Iran. The two nations have a strategic partnership covering political, economic, military, and energy cooperation, but do not have a comprehensive defence agreement.
Iran has supplied Russia with its drones for use in the four-year-old Ukraine war.