TEHRAN – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that the Iranian people will not surrender to US economic pressure.

"Since the United States cannot force Iranians to surrender through bullying, it seeks to make them capitulate owing to livelihood problems and a lack of facilities. However, the Iranian people will not surrender," Pezeshkian said at a meeting with Indian religious leaders, elites and businessmen in New Delhi, according to the official IRNA news agency.

He condemned the US naval blockade and economic war against Iran, saying Washington does not want Iran to be an independent country, "but we will not bow to its bullying".

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Iran has been under a US-imposed naval blockade for several months and has recently witnessed an unprecedented intensification of pressure on its economy by Washington.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced "the most crushing economic operation ever taken" against any country providing a lifeline to Iran, adding that "this will be economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."

Gulf littoral states to meet in Oman

Also on Friday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Gulf littoral states' foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Oman on Monday to exchange views on regional issues, including the talks between Iran and Oman on designating safe routes in the Strait of Hormuz.

Baghaei told reporters that the meeting will be attended by Iran, Iraq and other Gulf littoral states.

Baghaei said that the initiative to hold the meeting is an important step towards promoting trust and cooperation among regional countries, as well as peace and stability in the region, without what he called transregional players' "destructive and divisive interference".

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He expressed hope that the meeting would prepare the ground for improving understanding among regional countries and contributing to joint regional security.