Iran's ambassador to Namibia says the possibility of any negotiations to calm the ongoing conflict in its country are now meaningless.
Ambassador Mohamed Beigi sat down with NBC News and said that his government has never left the negotiating table and has always been ready for diplomacy, but trust in the United States has been broken.
Ambassador Beigi said that the U.S. and Israel have launched attacks on Iran during previous negotiations, and he therefore questions the possibility of any negotiations.
"And recently, just the other day, the bombardment of three oil storages around Tehran, just around Tehran, has brought us the high ranking of pollution to the people. So that is against the health of our people. So they wanted to escape the people of Iran. So this, we have received the meaning of the freedom of our people by Trump and his administration and, of course, the Israeli regime. So in this situation, nobody is ready to have this. It's not meaningful. No negotiation this time for looking."
Beigi said attacks have targeted Iranian leadership, including military generals and family members, as well as civilians in schools, killing more than 160 students and 14 teachers.
He also said economic and medical facilities, oil storage sites near Tehran, and educational centres have been damaged.
He added that the United States has military bases in the region, and Iran has informed neighbouring countries that U.S. facilities and interests would be legitimate targets if used against Iran.
Beigi said any attacks originating from foreign soil would require a response.
"This war has been imposed on us. So we have to defend our country, our people, and our interests. So, we are far from the United States, but the United States these days has many military bases around the world, including in our region in the Persian Gulf and in different countries in our neighbourhood. So, we have, and we have informed all of these neighbours before this situation that all of the military bases, the assets, and also the interests of the United States in the region are legitimate targets for our military forces."
The ambassador criticised the international community, including the United Nations and its Security Council, for not taking strong action to prevent the aggression.
He said Iran would only consider new negotiations if there were strong guarantees that attacks would not recur and questioned how Iran could be certain that the United States and Israel would not launch a third attack.
Ambassador Beigi did not mince his words when he said that Iran will continue to defend its people and its culture as long as the assault continues.
He said that the death toll as a result of the conflict in the country stands at just over 1 thousand 700.