WANA (Apr 25) – Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva stated that Iran has not initiated any war and is acting solely in self-defense, emphasizing that such defense will continue until hostilities fully cease and guarantees are secured to prevent future conflicts.

 

In an interview on Friday (April 24, 2026) with BBC Radio 4’s World program, Ali Bahreini responded to a question about how long Iran intends to continue the war by saying that the question should be directed at the United States, which he described as the initiator of the conflict.

 

“We are not waging war; we are defending our country,” he said. “Defense has no endpoint. We will continue until the war is completely stopped and we are assured it will not happen again.”

 

Bahreini added that Iranian armed forces and the public maintained full defensive capability until the very last moments before the ceasefire, with no reduction in the scale or intensity of their response.

 

Addressing allegations regarding the seizure of vessels belonging to countries not directly involved in the conflict, he said adversaries had used the Strait of Hormuz to supply military bases and pursue unlawful objectives in the region. He noted that this has led Iran to increase monitoring and oversight of maritime traffic in the strategic waterway.

 

The Iranian envoy also rejected claims of internal contradictions within Iran’s leadership, asserting that the inconsistency lies in U.S. behavior. “There is no contradiction in Iran,” he said. “The United States is the one acting inconsistently—at times calling for negotiations, then launching wars, and even threatening to destroy an entire civilization.”

 

He emphasized that Iran’s responses are calibrated to the actions of its adversaries, adding that this reflects strategic consistency rather than internal disagreement.