Addressing a press conference in Istanbul after a US strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that his country reserves its right to defend itself because the United States “betrayed diplomacy”. Abbas Araghchi said that there is no room for diplomacy but called Russia “a friend of Iran.” The Iranian foreign minister said that he will fly to Moscow today and have a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
“Russia is a friend of Iran and we enjoy a strategic partnership,” he told the news conference in Istanbul. “We always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” Araghchi said, noting that Russia was one of the signatories of the JCPOA. “I will have serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow, and we will continue to work with each other.”
Russian reaction
Meanwhile, the Russian news agency TASS said that Putin has no plans to speak to Trump after the US strikes on Iran. However, it also said that a call can be arranged if need be. The Russian foreign ministry in a statement “strongly condemned” the United States’ bombings of nuclear sites in Iran, calling the attacks “irresponsible” and a “gross violation of international law”. “It is already clear that a dangerous escalation has begun, fraught with further undermining of regional and global security.”
What more Iranian foreign minister said in Istanbul?
The Iranian foreign minister says it’s the responsibility of the “whole international community” to stop US threats against Iran, insisting his country’s nuclear programme has remained entirely peaceful. “Iran has done nothing wrong. We do not understand why Iran should be attacked for a false accusation that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons,” he said, noting it was the US that tore up the previous nuclear agreement and interrupted the latest round of talks with military strikes.
“It’s up to the international community to condemn this, to prevent this,” Araghchi added. “Otherwise, there will be nothing left of international law.”
He added that the Iranian people are “united and in solidarity with the government, and we stand firm against any aggression”.
US enters Iran-Israel war
In a major escalation of tensions in West Asia, the US bombed three nuclear sites – Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan – in Iran and warned the Islamic Republic of more “precision strikes” if it did not end its conflict with Israel. This came days after the US president said that he would decide within ‘two weeks’ if he needs to bomb Iran. The US strike came on the ninth day of Operation Rising Lion, under which Israel hit several nuclear facilities inside Iran, killing top military officials and nuclear scientists. The Israel Defence Forces said that US strikes “were in coordination with the IDF” and it was a “crucial step stopping the Iranian regime’s aggression.”
As America entered the war, Donald Trump said that ‘there will either be peace or tragedy.’ “This cannot continue. There will either be peace or tragedy for Iran, far greater than what we have witnessed over the last eight days,” Trump told a press briefing at the Oval Office. He also conveyed the goal of the US’ strikes, saying, “Our Objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.”
