Live Updates: Iran’s president denies nuclear ambitions, says he’s ready for talks

Updated on: October 16, 2026 / 1:09 PM EDT / CBS News

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied Friday that Tehran sought nuclear weapons, expressed readiness for dialogue and condemned U.S. sanctions during talks with Georgia's prime minister.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Pezeshkian also called for closer ties with Georgia, weeks after Tbilisi cut aviation links between the two countries following U.S. sanctions targeting Iranian airlines.

The two met on the sidelines of a U.N. biodiversity summit in Armenia's capital, Yerevan.

"Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, and we consider the malicious propaganda against our country to be lies," Pezeshkian said, according to a statement from his office.

"We have always been ready for dialogue. They think they can force us to surrender, but we will not bow to coercion," he added, calling U.S. sanctions against Tehran "unjustifiable and inhumane."

Georgia's Civil Aviation Agency said in September it would comply with U.S. sanctions, while Kobakhidze insisted Tbilisi was not imposing its own bilateral sanctions on Tehran.

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Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/