Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has rejected calls to respond in kind to US President Donald Trump's repeated insults, saying Tehran would defend its rights through action rather than inflammatory rhetoric.
Speaking amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington, Pezeshkian said Iran would not adopt the same style of rhetoric as Trump despite criticism from some quarters urging officials to respond more aggressively.
"We will not learn this kind of policy from someone whose hands are stained with the blood of children," Pezeshkian said, in an apparent reference to a US strike on an Iranian school that reportedly killed more than 100 children.
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He added, "Someone who cannot speak or express his thoughts without insulting. His speech and thoughts are as much an insult as what he utters. We firmly defend our rights."
Trump escalates rhetoric
Pezeshkian's remarks came after Trump declared the US-Iran ceasefire "over" during the NATO summit in Ankara.
The US president repeatedly criticised Iran's leadership, describing them as "liars", "scum", and "vicious, violent, sick people", while expressing doubts about the future of negotiations between the two countries.
The exchange comes as military tensions continue to rise following fresh US strikes on Iranian targets and retaliatory attacks by Tehran against US military facilities in the Gulf.
