TEHRAN — Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, says the world can no longer treat his country as weak. In a wide-ranging interview with the Iranian government’s website, he argued that the recent war with the United States and Israel shattered that old image and will force Tehran to pursue a fundamentally different foreign policy than before the fighting began.
Araqchi described the conflict as a US‑Israeli “war of aggression” that ultimately highlighted Iran’s resilience instead of breaking it. He recalled how US President Donald Trump, at the start of the war, had demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” According to the foreign minister, Washington and its allies then tried to push for regime change, partition, and internal unrest, but failed to achieve their goals or end the war quickly, according to Tasnim News.
During the fighting, Araqchi said, Iran worked hard on the diplomatic front. He warned foreign counterparts that if their countries allowed their territory to be used in the conflict, Iran would consider US military bases in the region legitimate targets. That message, he suggested, helped shape how other capitals calculated their involvement.
On the question of talks with Washington, Araqchi said President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to exploring US requests for negotiations as one possible route to end the war. The foreign minister added that Pezeshkian proposed appointing Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf to lead Iran’s negotiating team, signaling the importance Tehran attached to any future diplomacy.
Taken together, Araqchi’s remarks sketch a post‑war Iran that sees itself as stronger, more confident, and determined to rewrite the rules of engagement with its rivals. The old narrative of a fragile state, he insisted, has been “completely dispelled.” What comes next, he implied, will be a foreign policy built less on caution and more on the belief that Iran has already passed its hardest test.
