Iran says talks with US aim to defend its rights, 'not surrender'

Talks with the United States aim to defend Iran's rights, "not surrender," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.

"If there is any talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or backing down, but rather the goal is to secure the rights of the Iranian nation and powerfully defend national interests," Pezeshkian said in a statement carried by state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran "will never bow before the enemy," he vowed during a meeting of the task force for reconstruction of damage caused during the US-Israeli war.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A ceasefire took effect April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. The truce was later extended by US President Donald Trump without a set deadline, paving the way for diplomacy toward a permanent solution to the war.