Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on his Telegram channel that “the Leader of the Revolution is in perfect health and is fully managing the situation.” He made the statement during an interview with the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed network, shortly after Donald Trump raised doubts about whether Mojtaba Khamenei is still alive.
The title “Leader of the Revolution” now refers to Mojtaba Khamenei, who is reported to have succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, after he was killed in the February 28 strikes. The fact that the Foreign Minister felt the need to personally confirm the leader’s condition points to what many observers describe as a major “perception gap.” In Iranian political culture, repeated official statements claiming a leader is “perfectly healthy,” especially without any recent video evidence, often fuel speculation that the leader may be incapacitated, in a coma, or even dead.
During the interview, the Iranian Foreign Minister told the network: “We are ready to form a committee with regional countries to investigate the targets that have been attacked. Our attacks only target U.S. bases and interests in the region.”
He also said: “It is possible that Israel is behind the attacks on civilian targets in Arab countries in order to destroy their relations with Iran.”
According to Mr. Araghchi: “The Americans have built a drone similar to the Shahed drone named ‘Lucas’ which is completely identical to it, and through it, targets in Arab countries are being attacked.”
This statement amounts to a significant claim of a “false flag” operation. The Shahed drone is widely known as Iran’s signature “kamikaze” drone, recognized for its distinctive lawnmower-like engine sound. By claiming that the United States has produced an identical drone called “Lucas” to stage attacks on civilian areas in cities such as Dubai or Riyadh, Araghchi appears to be trying to preserve Iran’s diplomatic relationships with neighboring countries while offering an explanation for the black smoke that has been seen rising over Arab cities.
He stressed that Iran “has so far not targeted any civilian or residential areas in the countries of the region.”
The Iranian Foreign Minister also said that he “welcomes any regional initiative that leads to a just end to the war,” but added that “so far, no specific initiative to end the war has been proposed.”
He said that “the end of the war” would depend on guarantees that such events will not happen again and on the payment of reparations.
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments