In an 18-minute press conference on the flight from Equatorial Guinea to Rome, Pope Leo XIV was asked two questions about Iran: the first, regarding his position on regime change there and on the confused state of its negotiation with the United States; the second, whether he would condemn Iran for the execution of opposition figures and the killing of thousands of protestors.

The Italian TV journalist, Ignazio Ingrao, recalled that in Cameroon, Pope Leo had described the world being turned upside down by a handful of “tyrants” who risk destroying the planet. He noted that the negotiations to end the war in Iran “are in chaos” and the conflict is having a heavy impact on the world’s economy. He asked if Leo wished for “a change in regime in Iran,” given its repression of protestors in recent months and the concern over its race for a nuclear bomb.

Pope Leo responded: “I would like to begin by saying that it is necessary to promote a new attitude and culture for peace. Many times, when we evaluate certain situations, immediately the response is ‘we must enter with violence, with war, by attacking.’” 

Since becoming pope, he has constantly called for patient negotiations, instead of rushing to attack, as Israel and the United States did in June of 2025 and in February of 2026.

“What we have seen is that so many innocents are dead. I have just seen a letter from families whose children died on that first day of the attack [on Iran]. They speak of the fact that now their children, their babies are lost, they died in that [attack],” the pope said. He was referring to the mistaken air strike on Feb. 28 that killed some 150 children at an elementary school in Iran.

Pope Leo said, “The question is not whether there is regime change or no regime change; the question is how to promote the values in which we believe without the death of so many innocent people.”

He emphasized that “the question of Iran is clearly very complex. The very negotiations they are doing [are not clear]; one day Iran says ‘yes’ and the United States says ‘no,’ and vice versa, and we don’t know where it’s going. They have created this chaotic situation for the global economy.”

“Moreover,” he said, “there is a whole population in Iran of innocent people that is suffering because of this war.” So far, an estimated 3,000 have been killed and many more injured in the country of 90 million people.

He added: “For me, if there is regime change or not, it’s not clear what the regime is at this moment after the first days of the attacks of Israel and the United States against Iran.” He was referring to the targeted assassination of the country’s leadership by Israel and the United States on the first days of the attacks that began on Feb. 28

Pope Leo said, “Rather [than speak of regime change], I would like to encourage the continuation for the dialogue for peace; that the sides that participate…make every effort to promote peace [and avoid] the threat of war.”

He insisted “that international law be respected,” meaning civilians and civilian structures such as hospitals, schools and residential areas should not be targeted. “It is very important that the innocent be protected, which has not been the case in many places,” the pope said.

He revealed that he has a personal memory of the recent attacks by Israel—though he did not name it—in Lebanon. “I carry with me the photo of a Muslim child, who in the visit in Lebanon carried a sign saying, ‘Welcome Pope Leo,’ and then in this last part of the war he was killed!”

Pope Leo said: “They are so many human situations, that I think we need to have the capacity to think in this way. As a church, I say again, as a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war.”

He concluded, “I would like to encourage everyone to make the efforts to look for answers that come from a culture of peace and not from a place of hate and division.”

The second question of Iran came from Anneliese Taggart of News Max, who said: “You have spoken on this trip about how people hunger and thirst for justice. It was just reported this morning that Iran has executed yet another one of the members of the opposition, and this comes as it has been said that the regime has also publicly hanged multiple other people as well as murdered thousands of its own people. Do you condemn these actions? And do you have any message for the Iranian regime?”

Pope Leo responded by expressing the Holy See’s position on the death penalty. “I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people—from conception to natural birth—their lives should be respected and protected. So when a regime, when a country, takes decisions which take away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned.”

The pope’s comments on the return flight bracket an 11-day tour of Africa that began with Leo responding to a social media post from President Trump that called him “terrible for Foreign Policy.” In response, Pope Leo said he was not afraid of the Trump administration and continued to speak out strongly against war in each of the four countries he visited.

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.