Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Sunday that his government would “welcome any regional initiative that leads to a just end” to the war – even as Iran continued launching wanton attacks against every other country in the region.
“The end of the war depends on guaranteeing that it will not be repeated and on paying compensation,” Araghchi said via Telegram.
The Iranian foreign minister claimed his government was talking with various Gulf states about arranging such an end to the conflict, which would seem to contradict the loud objections all of those states have raised about Iran’s mad-dog missile and drone attacks against them.
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Araghchi repeated Iran’s transparent lie that it has only attacked “American bases and interests in the region.”
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Araghchi disputed President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran has been looking to make a deal to end the war.
“We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people. There is no good experience talking with Americans. We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided to attack us,” he railed.
“We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” he insisted.
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On the contrary, Araghchi claimed Iran had somehow impressed the U.S. and Israel with its ability to resist their aerial campaign.
“I think by now they have learned a good lesson and understood what kind of nation they are dealing with, one that does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary,” he said, alluding to Iran’s attacks against neighboring states.
On the very same day Araghchi posted these remarks, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Most of the attacks were intercepted, although Iran did manage to kill a Palestinian in Abu Dhabi and start a fire at Dubai International Airport.
Reem al-Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Saturday denounced Iran’s attacks as “unhinged” and decidedly counter-productive to the cause of negotiating a ceasefire.
“It’s been pretty unprecedented, what’s happened, and almost unhinged, I would say, to have Iran lash out at the very people who’ve been calling for de-escalation, who’ve been calling for this war to never actually even start, which has really taken us by surprise,” al-Hashimy told Australia’s ABC News.
“We’ve borne the brunt of most of the missiles and drone attacks, and it’s really quite surprising for us that Iran has taken such an irrational path to fight the Gulf states and act in this quite unlawful, quite unacceptable manner,” she said.
The UAE minister said Iran’s efforts to drive a wedge between the U.S. and the Gulf states with its attacks has failed, and the Emirates’ “long-standing strategic partnership” with the U.S. remains intact.
“Independent of how this began, the retaliatory measures that Iran has taken to attack the Gulf states are really where the issue we have is,” she said.
“I have to highlight here that Iran isn’t simply attacking military bases that have not launched a single missile from them, because we’ve made it clear that our territory would not be used to launch an attack against Iran. They are actually targeting civilian infrastructure as well, whether it’s an airport, or it’s oil tankers,” she noted.
“We’ve been long-standing partners of the US, long-standing partners of Australia as well. And this doesn’t deter us, because we’re also a resilient bunch, and we don’t take to being bullied around, either,” she said.
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