"We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country," Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, adding that Iran "will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime."

On Saturday, Israel conducted air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack on Israel, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

Israel has warned Tehran against responding.

Pezeshkian blamed the soaring regional tensions on Israel's "aggression" and US support for the country, which Tehran does not recognize.

"If the aggressions of the Zionist regime and its crimes continue, the tensions will spread," said the Iranian president.

Pezeshkian added that the United States had "promised to end the war in return for our restraint, but they did not keep their promise".

Iran has called for an end to the Gaza war, triggered on October 7, 2023 after the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Since then, the Israeli brutal military campaign on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,924 people, most of them women and children, with more than 100,833 others injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry's latest figures.

Iran also backs other armed groups in the region, including Lebanon's Hezbollah which has been fighting an all-out war with Israeli forces for the past month after a year of largely low-intensity exchanges.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.