In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakchi said that not yet the time has not come to discuss the terms of the ceasefire and Iran must continue fighting “for the good of the people”, writes TASR.
- Iran declares that the time has not yet come to discuss the terms of a cease-fire in the war.
- Iran says it must continue fighting for the good of the people and security.
“We’re not at that point yet. The war should end permanently. Until we get there, I think we have to keep fighting for the good of our people and our security.” Arákčí answered the question of what conditions Iran would accept to end the war.
Several American media, including NBC News and The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, wrote on Friday that During the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, Russia is providing intelligence to Iran for attacks on American targets. 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.
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkiyan on Saturday apologized to neighboring countries for attacks that occurred during the war, and announced that unless these countries 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.
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.”
In the interview, Arákči refused to comment on the successor of the ill-fated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. who, according to Iranian state media, was elected 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.
