![\"Iran's](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/c-gettyimages-2261635120.jpg?c=original&q=w_1280,c_fill\/f_avif\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday pushed back on claims from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Iran\u2019s newly named supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was wounded and disfigured.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere is no problem with the new supreme leader,\u201d Araghchi said in an interview with MS Now. \u201cHe is performing his duties according to the constitution, and he will continue to do that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Strait of Hormuz: The foreign minister also denied claims that Iran had fully closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world\u2019s most critical oil shipping routes, instead saying the passage was only blocked to vessels with ties to the US and Israel.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt is only closed to American, Israeli ships and tankers, and not to others,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Regional attacks: Commenting on the ongoing strikes by US and Israeli forces against Iran, Araghchi vowed retaliation for the US military strike on Kharg Island, which handles most of Iran\u2019s oil exports, and said that Iran\u2019s armed forces will strike any energy infrastructure tied to American companies in the region.\n <\/p>\n
\n Araghchi claimed the strikes were launched from UAE territory, specifically from Ras al-Khaimah and a location near Dubai, which he described as \u201chighly dangerous\u201d and \u201cunacceptable\u201d given the proximity to civilian populations.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOur armed forces have already answered that they would retaliate if our oil and energy infrastructure are attacked,\u201d Araghchi said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Foreign assistance: Asked about Russian and Chinese military support, Araghchi acknowledged both nations as \u201cstrategic partners\u201d with ongoing military cooperation but declined to provide details.\n <\/p>\n
\n Nuclear talks: Araghchi denied ever threatening to weaponize Iran\u2019s enriched uranium stockpile, saying he was trying to convey the scale of potential concessions Iran was prepared to make. \u201cWe were close to reach a deal,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the reality.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis is an imposed war against us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t start this war. We are only defending ourselves.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n UAE response: Anwar Gargash, a senior diplomatic adviser to the president of UAE, said Araghchi\u2019s comments accusing the Emirates of aggression against Iran are \u201cpart of a confused policy that has misdirected its aim, lost its compass, and forsaken wisdom.\u201d In an X post, he said that Araghchi has \u201ccondemned his own country\u201d and \u201centrenched its isolation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Gargash mentioned that the UAE made \u201csincere efforts\u201d to mediate and avoid a war between the US and Iran. He added that the UAE \u201ccontinues to prioritize reason and logic, maintaining restraint and seeking an exit for Iran and the region, but noted that \u201cthe UAE has the right to self-defense in the face of this terrorist aggression.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday pushed back on claims from US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-524448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}