A pretext was needed for the attack: Iran’s president criticizes Trump

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview with Fox News that if the Trump administration’s goal had truly been to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, it could have been achieved easily. He argued that the West instead used the issue as a pretext for an attack, which he said was unnecessary.

Pezeshkian also invited Fox News host Martha MacCallum to visit Iran to see for herself how women’s rights are respected in the country. “What you see about Iran, and what Western intelligence agencies tell you, is very different from reality,” he said.

The president stressed that women in Iran are not deprived of their freedoms, noting that five women currently serve in government and the administration.