Iran’s president said Thursday dialogue with the world was “possible” despite high tensions with the United States, and stressed that Tehran was working daily “to prevent military confrontation or war.”

Axar.az reports citing Alarabiya that Iran attacked the US military in Iraq on January 8 with missiles to retaliate against Washington’s targeted killing of a key Iranian general five days earlier in Baghdad, at a time when both are also locked in a bitter dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.

“The government is working daily to prevent military confrontation or war,” President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech, adding that “for me, this is a daily concern.”