Offer from Iran’s president not to attack neighbours provokes internal backlash

In a television address, Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, apologised to countries in the region that had been attacked, provoking a backlash from hardliners Photograph: X

The surprise offer by the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, not to attack countries in the neighbourhood so long as their airspace and US bases within their territories are not used to attack Iran has provoked a storm inside the country as the military appeared to contradict him, if not outright overrule him.

There were also calls for a new supreme leader to be installed as quickly as possible, as a means of marginalising the president. Attacks on facilities in Bahrain and elsewhere have continued, and there were unconfirmed reports that Bahrain had become the first Gulf country to fire back at Iran.