“We are not seeking a cease-fire because we do not want this scenario to be repeated again after some time. Rather, we want the war to end completely and permanently,” said Araghchi, insisting that the U.S. must “put an end to its aggression.”
The Foreign Minister’s sit-down interview on Wednesday landed after Iran confirmed that top security official Ali Larijani, a close associate of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had been killed in Israeli strikes in the early hours of Tuesday.
Dismissing the impact of targeted assassinations on senior officials, Araghchi said the U.S. and Israel fail to understand the “strong political structure” of Iran.
“We have not had anyone more important than the leader himself, and even the leader was martyred, yet the system continued its work and immediately provided a replacement,” he said, referring to the Feb. 28 killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has since been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei.