TEHRAN (Realist English). Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has accused Israel of attempting to assassinate him during a meeting, in a wide-ranging interview with U.S. conservative broadcaster Tucker Carlson released Monday.
“They did try, yes… but they failed,” Pezeshkian told Carlson, without specifying when the incident took place. “I was in a meeting… they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.” He added that neither he nor other Iranian officials are afraid to “sacrifice” their lives in defense of the country.
The interview comes amid rising regional tensions following U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, and as the BRICS summit takes place in Brazil with Iran attending as a full member for the first time.
Throughout the conversation — conducted in both English and Farsi — Pezeshkian presented Iran as a country committed to peace, repeatedly stating that the Islamic Republic was open to renewed negotiations with the United States, despite “a lack of trust.”
No nuclear bomb, no trust
“We have never been after developing a nuclear bomb — not in the past, not presently, or in the future,” he said, citing a religious decree by Iran’s Supreme Leader. Pezeshkian claimed that cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had consistently verified Iran’s peaceful intentions.
However, he accused the IAEA of indirectly enabling Israeli attacks by publishing reports that gave “excuses” for strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. “Even after that, the IAEA failed to condemn these attacks,” he added.
Pezeshkian confirmed Iran’s willingness to return to nuclear talks, but warned: “How are we going to trust the United States again? How can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks, the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”
He framed the recent escalation as a conflict driven by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging the U.S. to stay out of “a war that is not America’s.” Pezeshkian’s message to Washington: “This is Netanyahu’s war. It goes on and on. My proposal is: don’t join it.”
On Trump and diplomacy
Asked about Donald Trump, Pezeshkian struck a pragmatic tone, calling the U.S. president “powerful enough to put Israel in its place” and suggesting Trump could “guide” the region toward peace — if he chooses to.
Pezeshkian also made clear that Iran would not seek military support from Russia or China in the current crisis. “In God we trust,” he said. “We are capable of defending ourselves and standing on our own two feet.”
The interview drew attention for its format and timing. Carlson, who has been critical of Trump’s support for the Israeli offensive, defended the interview in a separate video, saying Americans “have a right to hear from the people they’re fighting.”
Context and reaction
The interview follows Trump’s decision to align the U.S. more closely with Israel in its confrontation with Iran — a move that has drawn criticism even within his own political base. Pezeshkian’s comments highlight Tehran’s efforts to present itself as a rational actor facing aggression, rather than an instigator of conflict.
“They accuse us of war, but we have not initiated war on anyone in the past 200 years,” Pezeshkian said, referencing the Iran-Iraq War and recent Israeli strikes. “We have always been after peace.”
The president also reiterated a broader appeal for regional stability: “We need to live in harmony… during this short and limited time granted to us by God almighty.”
The U.S. has not yet responded to Pezeshkian’s claims. Israel has not commented on the alleged assassination attempt.
