Iran’s president says his country is in a 'full-scale' war with the West

(AP) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country is in a full-scale war with the United States, Israel and Europe ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s meeting Monday with US President Donald Trump.

Pezeshkian said in an interview published on the website of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday that the war is worse than Iran's deadly war with Iraq in the 1980s.

“We are in a full-scale war with the US, Israel and Europe; they don’t want our country to remain stable,” he said.

Pezeshkian said the West's war against Iran is “more complicated and more difficult” compared to the 1980-1988 war with Iraq that left more than 1 million casualties on both sides.

The remarks came two days before a planned meeting between Trump and Netanyahu during Netanyahu's visit to the US Iran is expected to be a key topic in the talks.

Israeli and US strikes on Iran that came during a 12-day air war in June killed nearly 1,100 Iranians including senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Retaliatory missile barrages by Iran killed 28 in Israel.

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