Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tells Al Jazeera that Iran would ‘immediately and decisively’ to an US or Israeli attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told Al Jazeera that any attack by Israel or the United States on Iran’s nuclear facilities would plunge the region into an “all-out war”.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic during a visit to Qatar, Araghchi warned that launching a military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would be “one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make”.
He said Iran would respond “immediately and decisively” to any attack and that it would lead to an “all-out war in the region”.
Concerns have grown in Iran that US President Donald Trump might empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran’s nuclear sites while further tightening US sanctions during his second term in office.
Araghchi said he met Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha to discuss key regional issues.
“We highly commend Qatar’s mediation role in reaching the ceasefire in Gaza,” Araghchi said in an interview broadcast on Friday. “I hope all other issues will be ironed out.”
He also met Hamas officials while in Qatar and said Palestinians had achieved “victory” in Gaza, despite the devastation of Israel’s war on the enclave.
“Despite all the killings and destruction the whole world witnessed, the Palestinian people held their ground and upheld their values and principles. I believe this stands as a victory,” he said.
“The Israeli occupation forces did all in their power to eliminate Hamas and free their captives, but they were forced at the end of the day to sit and negotiate with Hamas. This represents victory for Hamas,” he added.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 47,460 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and wounded 111,580 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 taken captive.
Much of the Strip has been reduced to rubble and the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been displaced.
Regarding developments in Syria, Araghchi said Iran supports the formation of a government in which all segments of Syrian society can participate following the toppling of former President Bashar al-Assad, who was a strong ally of Iran.
Araghchi said Iran’s goals are for stability in Syria and to preserve the unity of the country’s territory.
“We endorse any government chosen and supported by the Syrian people. We want peace and security for Syrian, which is a precursor to the same in the region,” he said.
“We don’t wish to see Syria as the epicentre of endless tension or ethnic conflicts, which may turn it into a safe haven for terrorists. Instability in Syria would spill over the region.”
Iran had supported al-Assad since Syria’s war broke out in 2011, providing him with fighters, weapons and other military support that aimed to keep him in power, as well as to maintain Tehran’s regional “axis of resistance” to Israel and the US.
Regarding the re-election of Trump, Araghchi said the history of Iranian-American relations was “full of hostility and mistrust”.
He pointed out that the US under the last Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear agreement and assassinated Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC’s) Quds Force.
He called on the new Trump administration to take practical steps to restore confidence, such as returning frozen Iranian funds, and said Iran does not object to direct dialogue with the US, but insists on limiting negotiations to the nuclear issue.
