Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will not be able to ignore its arch-foe, the United States, and needs to "handle its enemies with forbearance," state media reported on Tuesday, a week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
"Whether we like it or not, we will have to deal with the US in the regional and international arenas, so it is better to manage this relation ourselves," Pezeshkian, who is viewed as relatively moderate, said.
"We have to treat our friends with generosity and handle our enemies with forbearance."
In 2018, then-president Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposed harsh sanctions as part of his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran.
While there have been no reports that the Trump administration plans to hold talks with Tehran after it takes office in January, the President-elect said during his election campaign "I don't want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons."