In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araki said that the time has not yet come to discuss the terms of the ceasefire and that Iran must continue fighting “for the good of the people”, writes TASR.
- Iran’s foreign minister rejects a ceasefire and insists on continuing fighting.
- Iran declares that it will end the war only with a permanent and definitive peace.
- According to the media, Russia is providing Iran with intelligence for attacks against Americans.
“We’re not at that point yet. The war should end permanently. If we don’t get there, I think we have to continue fighting for the sake of our people and our security,” Arákchi said when asked what conditions Iran would accept to end the war.
Accusations against Russia
Several American media, including NBC News and The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, wrote on Friday that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence for attacks on American targets during the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East.
When asked whether Russia really supports Iran in the conflict, Arákči replied that “cooperation between Iran and Russia is nothing new.” However, he refused to comment on intelligence information. “They help us in many different ways, I don’t have any detailed information,” he added.
Message to neighboring countries
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkiyan on Saturday apologized to neighboring countries for attacks that occurred during the war and announced that as long as these countries do not attack Iran, Iran will no longer target their territories.
However, according to Arákči, Iran did not attack its neighbors on purpose. “We are attacking American bases, American facilities, American assets that are unfortunately located on the soil of our neighbors,” he explained.
Tensions with the US
The minister also commented on the possibility that the US would send ground troops to Iran. “We have very brave soldiers waiting for any enemy that enters our soil to fight them, kill them and destroy them,” he stated.
One of the reasons for the outbreak of the conflict, which was stated by US President Donald Trump last week, was also Iranian missiles, which are said to be able to hit the US soon. According to Arákčí, this is “disinformation” and Iran deliberately produces missiles with a limited range of less than 2,000 kilometers, because “it does not want anyone in the world to perceive it as a threat.”
Election of a new leader
In the interview, Arákchi refused to comment on the successor of the late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who, according to Iranian state media, was chosen by the Assembly of Experts on Sunday. However, he pointed out that the decision is up to the Iranians and not the American president. He recently declared that he wants to participate in the election of the new Iranian leader.
