- 6/22/2025
U.S., Israel crossed ‘big red line’, says Iran Foreign Minister Araghchi as he heads to Moscow
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, declaring them a violation of international law and a crossing of Iran's "final red line."
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Araghchi said that Iran reserves the right to retaliate in self-defence and warned that the US will be held responsible for the consequences.
He criticized Washington for launching attacks during ongoing diplomatic efforts, saying, “Diplomacy should always remain open, but the US chose aggression in the middle of talks.”
Araghchi called on the international community to prevent further escalation, urging the UN Security Council to convene an emergency session.
Araghchi announced plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, calling Russia a “trusted friend” and requesting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the U.S. attacks.
He accused President Trump of betraying both Iran and the American people by launching the strike and said the assault on peaceful nuclear sites was "unforgivable." Araghchi also condemned Israel’s role, describing it as a genocidal regime with malicious intent.
Iran, he emphasized, would not compromise on its sovereignty, national interests, or independence, and retains all options to respond. “It is clear now,” he said, “that the U.S. and Israel only understand the language of force.”
Araghchi further stated that Iran is still assessing the damage caused by the strikes and demanded that the United Nations and the IAEA hold the US accountable for its "criminal act."
#AbbasAraghchi #Iran #Khamenei #DonaldTrump #America #USAirForce #الضربة_الامريكية #Tehran #IsraeliranWar #IranVsIsrael #IranIsraelConflict #MuslimUnity #WeStandWithIran #WorldWar3
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has strongly condemned the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, declaring them a violation of international law and a crossing of Iran's "final red line."
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, Araghchi said that Iran reserves the right to retaliate in self-defence and warned that the US will be held responsible for the consequences.
He criticized Washington for launching attacks during ongoing diplomatic efforts, saying, “Diplomacy should always remain open, but the US chose aggression in the middle of talks.”
Araghchi called on the international community to prevent further escalation, urging the UN Security Council to convene an emergency session.
Araghchi announced plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, calling Russia a “trusted friend” and requesting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the U.S. attacks.
He accused President Trump of betraying both Iran and the American people by launching the strike and said the assault on peaceful nuclear sites was "unforgivable." Araghchi also condemned Israel’s role, describing it as a genocidal regime with malicious intent.
Iran, he emphasized, would not compromise on its sovereignty, national interests, or independence, and retains all options to respond. “It is clear now,” he said, “that the U.S. and Israel only understand the language of force.”
Araghchi further stated that Iran is still assessing the damage caused by the strikes and demanded that the United Nations and the IAEA hold the US accountable for its "criminal act."
#AbbasAraghchi #Iran #Khamenei #DonaldTrump #America #USAirForce #الضربة_الامريكية #Tehran #IsraeliranWar #IranVsIsrael #IranIsraelConflict #MuslimUnity #WeStandWithIran #WorldWar3
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NewsTranscript
00:00Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, His Excellency Abbas Arabji, has arrived in the conference hall taking place.
00:12Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, very good morning to you, ladies and gentlemen, I'm so glad to be with you this morning.
00:36Actually, we invited you yesterday for a briefing on the latest developments on the ground and, of course, on diplomatic process.
00:57Because I came here from Geneva, where we had our first ministerial meeting of Iran E3, and then I had here yesterday lots of useful, important meetings with the foreign ministers of our region.
01:21And we discussed about different initiatives and ideas existed for a peaceful settlement of this question.
01:31But as all of you know, we suddenly faced with the aggression by American forces to our nuclear facilities.
01:44The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns, in the strongest terms, the United States' brutal military aggression against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities.
01:59It is an outrageous, grave, and unprecedented violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
02:10The war-mongering and lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression.
02:27The U.S. military attack on the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of a U.N. member state carried out with genocidal Israeli regime,
02:42carried out in collusion with the genocidal Israeli regime, has once again revealed the extent of the United States' hostility towards the peace-seeking people of Iran,
02:55who will never compromise over their independence and sovereignty.
03:01The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to defend Iran's territory, sovereignty, security, and people, by all means necessary,
03:14against not just U.S. military aggression, but also the reckless and unlawful actions of the Israeli regime.
03:21While President Trump was elected on a platform of putting an end to America's costly involvement of forever wars in our part of the world,
03:34he has betrayed not only Iran by abusing our commitment to diplomacy,
03:40but also deceived his own voters by submitting to the wishes of a wanted war criminal who has grown accustomed to exploiting the lives and wealth of American citizens
03:54to further the Israeli regime's objectives.
03:57The U.S. Act of aggression against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities constitutes not only a flagrant breach of the U.N. Charter,
04:07especially the prohibition of the use of force under Article 2, Paragraph 4,
04:14and the obligation to respect the state's territorial integrity and sovereignty,
04:18but also a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231.
04:24It cannot be emphasized enough how much of a devastating blow that the U.S., a permanent member of the Security Council,
04:36has dealt to the global non-proliferation regime.
04:40The Islamic Republic of Iran reminds the United Nations, the Security Council,
04:46the U.N. Secretary General, the International Atomic Energy Agency,
04:56and other relevant international bodies of their duty and responsibility to take urgent and decisive action
05:05in response to this breach of international law.
05:08Silence in the face of such blatant aggression will plunge the world into an unprecedented level of danger and chaos.
05:19Humanity has come too far as suspicious to allow a lawless bully to take us back to the law of the jungle.
05:28The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on the Security Council to convene an emergency session
05:35to unequivocally condemn the criminal act of aggression by the United States against Iran
05:43and to hold the administration in Washington accountable for its violations of fundamental principles of United Nations Charter
05:52and of norms of international law.
05:57The responsibility of the IAEA and its Director General,
06:01who through evident bias in favor of warmongering parties paved the way for the current violence and bloodshed,
06:10is now clearer than ever.
06:12We call on the IAEA Board of Governors to immediately convene and carry out its legal responsibility
06:20in response to the dangerous U.S. attack on Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities,
06:27all of which have been under the agency's full safeguards and monitoring.
06:32The world must not forget that it was the United States which,
06:37in the midst of a process to forge a diplomatic outcome,
06:42betrayed diplomacy by supporting the genocidal Israeli regime's launch of an illegal war of aggression on the Iranian nation.
06:51Not content with such malign actions,
06:55the United States itself has now also opted for a dangerous military operation and aggression against the people of Iran.
07:07In doing so, the U.S. administration holds sole and full responsibility for the consequences of its actions,
07:15including the Islamic Republic of Iran's right to self-defense under the principles of the United Charter.
07:24In accordance with the U.N. Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense,
07:32Iran reserves all options to defend its security interests and people.
07:40Thank you very much.
07:45We will now be taking questions.
07:48We'd like to start with the Associated Press.
07:51Sayın Bakan, müzakara kapıları hala açıyor.
08:21Distinguished Minister, are the doors for negotiation still open?
08:30Can you hear me now?
08:32Distinguished Minister, the question is as follows.
08:36Is the door for negotiations still open?
08:42No translation.
08:44Interpreter, please speak.
08:58Can you hear me, sir?
09:02Can you hear me, sir?
09:06In the English channel, can you hear me?
09:08If I may just step in here and just translate real quick for my colleague, he's asking if there are still room for negotiations moving forward.
09:18No.
09:21It's all right now.
09:22You can't.
09:23Just translate is okay.
09:24Is the negotiation door still open?
09:36Did you contact with Tehran?
09:39What kind of damage has been incurred on the nuclear facilities?
09:43Is there any intermediary country like Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, like Qatar?
09:50Are you continuing your such activities of mediation?
09:54How do you see the process?
09:55Well, I have been in touch with Tehran, of course.
10:05I still do not have exact information about the level of damages.
10:12But I don't think it matters how much damages have been made.
10:24Attacking a nuclear facility by itself is an unforgivable violation of international law and should be condemned.
10:34Yesterday, as I said, I had discussion and talks with a number of foreign ministers of the region.
10:48Almost all of them are very much concerned and interested to pay a role to end this aggression by Israel, of course.
11:01Because they were worried about a possible attack by the United States.
11:07But yesterday, we were all talking about how to stop the Israeli aggression.
11:16Well, of course, the door for diplomacy should be always keep open.
11:24But this is not the case right now.
11:27My country has been under attack, under aggression, and we have to respond based on our legitimate drive of self-defense.
11:40And we will do that as long as needed and necessary.
11:46We would now like to take a question from Al Jazeera.
11:55Thank you very much, Minister.
12:18So, you say that you need to respond right now, but we know that Iranians are known for their talents in negotiations in diplomacy and trade.
12:30What would be the conditions after responding for Iran to come back to a negotiation table, maybe with the U.S. as well?
12:39And Turkey has been offering that Ankara can mediate for a trilateral between Turkey, U.S. and Iran.
12:47What would be your response to that?
12:49Because right now the U.S. is technically involved in this conflict.
12:56Well, I think it is irrelevant to ask Iran to return to diplomacy, because we were in the middle of diplomacy.
13:06We were in the middle of talks with the United States when Israelis blew it up.
13:14And again, we were in the middle of talks and negotiations with Europeans, happened only two days ago in Geneva, when this time Americans decided to blow it up.
13:28So, we were in diplomacy, but we were in diplomacy, but we were attacked militarily.
13:43So, it was not Iran, but the U.S. who betrayed diplomacy.
13:50They betrayed negotiations, when at the middle of negotiations with us, they gave green light to Israelis, if not instructed them, to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
14:11I think they have proved that they are not men of diplomacy.
14:20And they only understand the language of threat and force.
14:24And this is very unfortunate.
14:29The United States showed that they have no respect to United Nations Charter.
14:38They have no respect to international law.
14:41They have no respect to any international law regarding, you know, managing the world and facing challenges of the world.
15:03There is no red line that they have not crossed.
15:08And the last one, and the most dangerous one, was happened only last night, when they crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities.
15:20I don't know how much room is left for diplomacy.
15:26We are now calculating the damages.
15:30And, as I said, the damages are not only for our nuclear facilities.
15:38The damages are for the United Nations Charter.
15:42It was not only Iran's facilities which was bombed.
15:46It was also the United Nations Charter.
15:48It was also non-proliferation regime and NPT which was bombed last night by Americans.
15:54And it was the rule of law and international law which was bombed.
16:03So, now we have to see how much room is left for diplomacy, and we will decide.
16:10I'd like to hand over to TRT World.
16:12Mr. Minister, the U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Iran must now make peace, otherwise the future attacks, he says, would be far greater and much easier.
16:31So, how is Tehran responding to death threats from Washington?
16:35I think it's not up to Iran to respond to that.
16:38I think that the whole international community should respond of such a clear threat against the United Nations Charter.
16:48Iran has done nothing wrong.
16:52We do not understand why Iran should be attacked for a false accusation that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
17:06It's now more than 20 years that we are trying to prove that our peaceful nuclear program is, in fact, peaceful and would remain peaceful.
17:19We negotiated for a long time with the so-called P5 plus 1, and we came to a deal which the whole world celebrated as an achievement of diplomacy.
17:31And then it was the U.S. who withdrew from that deal and reimposed their sanctions and restarted their threats.
17:42Again, we were negotiating with the same administration.
17:46Then all of a sudden, suddenly, they decided to attack us, first by Israelis, then by themselves.
17:54And now they are threatening us for more attacks.
17:57So it's not up to Iran, but it's up to the international community to condemn this, to prevent this.
18:06Otherwise, there will be nothing left for the international law, for the security at the world level.
18:18Well, the Security Council should play its role, should play its responsibility to prevent, to condemn and prevent these kinds of threats.
18:30We will certainly defend our interests.
18:33We will certainly defend our territorial integrity, our sovereignty and our people.
18:37And I'm so glad that our people are now fully understand what injustice they are doing against the Iranian people.
18:48They are united and in solidarity with the government, and we stand firm against any aggression.
18:58Next, CNN Turk.
19:00Mr. Minister, how do you assess the West's stance on Israel massacres?
19:12No one seems to mention Israel's allegedly illegal nuclear weapons.
19:18The German Chancellor even said Israel is doing the dirty work for us.
19:22So what is your response?
19:27Well, what should I say?
19:28You said everything, that Iran is under attack by a nuclear-armed superpower and a nuclear-armed regime.
19:45And Iran, as you know, is a non-nuclear-armed country.
19:50That should be certainly condemned.
19:52If not, the whole non-proliferation regime would be undermined.
19:58And would be defeated.
20:03Iran is a committed member of NPT.
20:08But NPT is not able to protect us.
20:11So why a country like Iran or other countries who are interested to have a peaceful nuclear energy should rely on NPT for their peaceful activities?
20:29It is very unfortunate that Israel is doing, as the German Chancellor called, a dirty job.
20:45And by the way, they supported that dirty job.
20:52It's a shame.
20:55They know that Israel is doing a dirty job and they support it.
20:58And they give it every right to do it.
21:01And they call it defending itself.
21:10It's very, it's really a shame.
21:17Pardon?
21:18Well, I think I'm not in a position to reveal what we are going to do in response to what Americans did last night.
21:35I just talked about the fact that NPT failed to protect Iran from, and its peaceful nuclear program.
21:49And this is a serious challenge.
21:52Next, we'd like to take a question from IRIB.
21:55IRIB, if I can get a question from IRIB.
22:18I'm from a Turkish newspaper and also representing Net News Agency.
22:25It is indicated that China is supporting Iran.
22:34How do you evaluate its deterrent power vis-a-vis USA and Israel?
22:40And can we learn your expectations about your relations with the Russian Federation?
22:50Well, there was a problem with the translation, or I think with the device.
22:55Yes, it doesn't work properly.
22:58I understood the last part of your question.
23:02Well, I'm going to Moscow this afternoon, and I have a meeting with President Putin tomorrow morning.
23:08Russia is a friend of Iran, and we enjoy strategic partnership, and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions.
23:32Russia has been a part of JCPOA, so they have been a part of JCPOA, so they have been always a party to nuclear negotiations.
23:43And even in the past two, three months that we were negotiating with the United States,
23:52we always briefed our Russian friends about the latest, about any progress or lack of progress in our talks.
24:09Well, I will have serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow, and we continue to work with each other.
24:22Russia is also a permanent member of the security council, and we know that they were trying, together with China, to introduce a resolution to the security council for the succession of hostilities.
24:40Obviously, now the situation has been changed, and I will have a discussion with them that how it should be proceed.
24:54The final question from IRIB, if we can hand over the microphone to the gentleman right there.
25:18Yesterday, President Erdogan mentioned a mediation instrument.
25:25Can Turkey handle such a diplomacy or a mediation activity?
25:37I had very productive meetings with the president of the Republic of Turkey yesterday, and I also had contacts with some of the countries of the region.
25:48Some of the countries of the region such as Turkey are indicating that they could be mediating so that the attacks from Israel could stop.
26:03I do believe that I do believe that I am going to start some actions and discussions about this to prevent this American aggression.
26:11Turkey very definitely has condemned the Israeli attacks, and also the countries of the region have also condemned these attacks.
26:21Now all the countries of this region and the Islamic countries are condemning the massacres and the killing of Israel.
26:31We, as members of the OIC and the foreign ministers, we had a special meeting on the situation in Iran.
26:43Turkey was the chair of this session, and in relation to condemning Israeli attacks, a statement was shared to end this attack, and they indicated that they were on our side.
26:59The attack last night was a big murder.
27:07It was not just an attack against Iranian people, but also the laws and the provisions of the United Nations were also violated.
27:18Thus, this was a big blow to international security and to peace by America.
27:37We believe that the United Nations should see this as a threat.
27:42The behavior of America is threatening the world peace, and it is also a serious bottleneck for the international system.
27:54And we have important problems and pain in our region because of this creating an important damage.
28:01The attack last night showed once again that the sirenisk regime of Israel has not actually reached the starbots and aims in Iran,
28:17and they have been harmed, and they have actually been in a crisis because of the heroic defense of Iran.
28:26They have received support from America.
28:31And this direct intervention of America is actually to save the sirenist regime, and maybe to save the prime minister specifically of the sirenist regime.
28:43This was the reason why America acted this way.
28:47And this shows that the White House is under the influence of this individual called Netanyahu.
28:56And this is a shame for the old American citizens.
29:02We continue to defend our country in a heroic manner.
29:09Our armed forces are ready.
29:12Our people with high level of self-confidence and with high level of motivation is ready to defend itself.
29:23The Iranian people's national honor has been damaged, and to bring this back they will defend themselves.
29:33We will never take a step back from our own law, from our honor, from our territory.
29:38We do have time for one or two more questions.
29:40I'd like to hand over to Bloomberg Habertürk.
29:56Mr. Minister, thank you very much for doing this.
29:58Sena Alkan from Habertürk and Bloomberg HD.
30:01You said attacks at nuclear facilities are red line, and you are calculating your response.
30:07So here is the question.
30:09What are the options?
30:10Are you going to retaliate at U.S. bases in the region?
30:14Or are you going to considering to close the Strait of Hermes?
30:18And one more question as well.
30:20Two times, while you are at the table of negotiation, Israel and the U.S. attacked your soil.
30:27So do you still have the same level of trust to Western diplomacy?
30:36There are a variety of options available to us.
30:41And that's it.
30:46We never trusted Western countries when we negotiated them.
30:52And there are now even more reasons why we shouldn't trust them at all.
31:01Of course, the way for diplomacy should always remain open.
31:07But, as I said, we are not in the situation right now to decide how to engage in diplomacy once again and with whom.
31:21So, let's wait for our response first.
31:28And when the aggression is ended, we decide how to engage in diplomacy once again.
31:38Next, over to NTV.
31:39Mr. Minister, thank you.
31:51I would just like to ask a quick question.
31:55You had many dialogues with Mr. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. representative during the negotiations.
32:05Did he call you after the attack who you talked with?
32:08Did you ever talk with any Western countries or United States?
32:13Did they call you?
32:15Well, my talks with Mr. Witkoff was indirect, through the Omani foreign minister as intermediator, to whom I am very grateful.
32:34And when the talks were stopped because of the U.S. aggression, we are still receiving messages from Americans through different channels, Oman in particular.
32:51And there are also others who are passing the messages of the United States to us.
32:56And if needed, we respond to those messages through intermediators.
33:06Well, thank you very much, everybody.
33:08I think we are done.
33:11So...
33:12Yes, we've come to the end of that press briefing.
33:15We'd like to thank the foreign minister for holding that briefing after the latest developments in his country, Iran, and in the wider Middle East region.
33:25Thank you very much.
33:26Thank you, everybody.
33:27Thank you, indeed.