Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Tehran is “fully prepared” to resume hostilities with the United States if President Trump orders fresh military strikes after November’s midterm elections.
In an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” Araghchi accused Washington of having “tested us in their aggression” and in diplomacy. He said that although Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and enter a ceasefire, that offer still stands.
“We are fully prepared for the war to be resumed,” Araghchi told Welker. “And I repeat, we stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even if it comes to a doomsday war. But at the same time, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose.”
He noted that Trump turned down the peace offer but that Iranian negotiators are still awaiting “an official response through the mediators.”
Araghchi said any new outbreak of fighting would resemble previous strike exchanges, but he claimed Iran’s military has “changed our tactics, and we are fully prepared to do that.”
The foreign minister also defended Iran’s nuclear enrichment program as legal and intended for “certain” purposes, including “medical purposes [and] other purposes.” Welker pushed back, noting that Iran’s 60 percent enrichment is twenty times more than what is needed to produce electricity, and asked whether Tehran would allow the U.S. to take its enriched uranium to end the conflict.
“We have removed any concern in our past negotiations,” Araghchi said. “If there is still such a question, then why did they bomb us? Are they allowed to bomb anything that they think is illegal, or there is no justification for that? War is not a solution. That was a subject for negotiation, and we did it in the past.”
Welker also asked about the status of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly seriously injured during U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28 that killed his father and predecessor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several family members. Khamenei is believed to be in hiding and has not been seen in public or photographed since succeeding his father. Araghchi said this is for “security reasons” due to “indications” that the U.S. is a threat.
“We receive his comments, and orders, and opinions,” he added. “And there is a national consensus on decision-making. It is false if somebody thinks that there are different sources of power inside Iran. We move based on national consensus.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday that he last spoke with the younger Khamenei in person about a month and a half ago. When Baier asked if Khamenei is able to govern, Pezeshkian replied, “Very much so, completely.”
Pezeshkian said before the United Nations General Assembly that Tehran is willing to strike a deal before the November midterms. The comments come as the Trump administration faces scrutiny over its Iran policy, with critics warning that a broader conflict could reshape the midterm landscape for Republicans. Meanwhile, some Democrats have raised the specter of impeachment over Iran strikes, while the White House has touted arrests in an alleged plot against a U.S. air base as evidence of ongoing threats.
