In an exclusive interview on Fox News’ “Special Report” aired Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi firmly denied allegations that his country is involved in efforts to assassinate President Donald Trump or other high-ranking officials from his administration.
Araghchi, who has held the position for nearly a year, also dismissed claims that Iran seeks to erase Israel from existence and downplayed the significance of anti-American chants like “Death to America.” This marked his debut on the network since the United States conducted airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Araghchi explained that phrases such as “Death to America” target what he described as the U.S.’s foreign policies, not the American populace.
“We have consistently stated, including from our supreme leader and other leaders, that ‘Death to America’ refers to opposition against hegemonic U.S. actions, not against its citizens,” he said.
He acknowledged that isolated extremists, both within and beyond Iran’s borders, might express more aggressive views, but emphasized that these do not represent official Iranian policy now or in the future.
Addressing the assassination allegations, Araghchi insisted that targeting individuals abroad, especially a foreign head of state, has never been part of Iran’s strategy. This comes in the wake of the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the former leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force.
In November, the U.S. Justice Department revealed charges against Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Afghan national allegedly directed by the IRGC to monitor and devise a plan to kill Trump, who was then president-elect. Shakeri, believed to be in Iran, faces accusations including aiding a terrorist group and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
Additionally, in 2022, the DOJ accused an IRGC operative of scheming to assassinate John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor.
President Trump has publicly warned that any successful Iranian attempt on his life would trigger devastating retaliation, stating earlier this year that he had prepared directives for Iran to be “completely destroyed” in such a scenario. “Nothing would remain,” he remarked to the press.
When questioned about Iran’s backing of proxy militias and its stance toward Israel, Araghchi maintained that eliminating the country has never been Tehran’s objective.
However, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has labeled Israel a “cancerous growth” destined for eradication. In 2005, during a conference titled “World without Zionism,” former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad echoed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s call for Israel to be “erased from the map.”
More recently, in June, Iranian General Ebrahim Jabbari declared on national television that Israel must be “wiped out,” as translated by MEMRI TV, part of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Araghchi indicated that Iran is willing to engage in indirect negotiations with the current Trump administration following the attacks on its nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow. Nonetheless, he stressed that Iran would not abandon its uranium enrichment program as part of any agreement.
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Author: Publius
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