Live updates: Israel hammers Beirut and Tehran as Iran attacks more Israeli targets

Masoud Pezeshkian said the country’s three-man leadership council had been in touch with the armed forces over the attacks.

“I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran, on my own behalf,” the president said. “From now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.”

He also suggested miscommunication in the ranks caused the attacks. However, his statement aired after repeated attacks Saturday morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has been at the forefront of the war, answers only to the country’s supreme leader. However, an Israeli airstrike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, at the start of the war on Feb. 28.

Pezeshkian, in his comments, specifically blamed the killing of Khamenei and other top leaders for what sounded like a loss of command and control in the armed forces for days.