Transcript
Malan Allen in Doha, Qatar.
Amna: Now to the view from the
Iranian government.
Earlier today I spoke with
Iran's foreign minister, abbas
araghchi, from Tehran.
Mr. Minister, welcome to the
news hour.
Thank you for joining us.
>> Thank you for having me,
thank you indeed.
Amna: I would like to ask about
the news of the selection of
mojtaba, the son of the
ayatollah, who has been named
the new supreme leader of Iran.
Some say his election is a
message of continuity of his
father's leadership, of
continued defiance to the U.S.
And Israel.
Do you agree with that?
Is that the message Iran would
like to send?
>> I think that is the correct
evaluation.
It shows that the continuity,
some sort of stability at the
same time.
Amna: And since his selection,
has he or anyone in your
leadership had any contact with
U.S. Officials?
Is that something that he is
open to, to talk about
negotiations or a cease fire?
>> Well, first of all, it's too
soon, you know, for him to make
any comment.
We are all waiting for his
speeches and comments, which
would come later on.
But I don't think the question
of talking with Americans or
negotiation with the Americans
once again would be on the
table.
Because, you know, we have a
very, you know, bitter
experience of talking with the
Americans.
We negotiated with them last
year in last June, and they
attacked us in the middle of
negotiations.
And again this year, they try to
convince us that this time is
different.
They promised us that they don't
have any intention to attack us.
And they wanted to resolve the
Iran's nuclear question
peacefully, and to find a
negotiated solution, and we
finally accepted.
But again, after three rounds of
negotiation and after the
American team in the
negotiation, you know, said
itself that we made a big
progress, still they decided to
attack us.
So I don't think, you know,
talking with Americans anymore
would be on our agenda anymore.
Amna: Mr. Minister, this war has
now entered its 10th day.
I know you have said that unless
there's a permanent end to the
war, not a cease fire, in other
words, that Iran will continue
to defend itself, continue to
fight.
Can I ask you, what do you
believe that the U.S. And Israel
are trying to achieve or trying
trying to change with this war?
>> Well, actually they tried to
achieve some targets, some of
their goals, but they failed.
They thought that in a matter of
two or three days, they can go
for a regime change, they can go
for a rapid, clean victory, but
they failed.
So I believe that, you know,
option -- you know, plan a was a
failure.
And now they are trying other
plans, but all of them have
failed as well.
And I don't think they have any
realistic end game in their mind
because we are seeing some sort
of a chaos in their savings, in
their, you know, actions.
They have just started to attack
us blindly.
They are attacking today.
They attacked, you know,
residential areas, they attacked
hospitals, they attacked
schools.
And they entered into, to
attacking our infrastructure,
which is a very dangerous move.
And, you know, as a result, you
can see the oil prices
everywhere in the world.
So I don't see any, you know,
reasonable goal that they are
following.
They fail to achieve their goals
at the beginning.
And now after 10 days, I think
they are, you know, aimless.
Amna: I do want to ask more
about the oil prices, as you
mentioned.
There have been widespread
disruptions in the delivery of
oil in the persian gulf.
We're seeing prices here in the
U.S. Start to rise as well.
Do you believe that you can
pressure the U.S. And Israel to
stop their attacks by slowing or
stopping oil production as well?
>> Well, this is not our fault.
This is not our plan.
The oil production, you know,
the transportation of oil has
been slowed down or stopped.
Not because of us, because of
the attacks and aggression made
by Israelis and Americans
against us.
So they have made the whole
region insecure.
And this is why the tankers, the
ships, are scared to pass
through the strait of hormuz.
We have not closed that strait.
We have not -- we are not
preventing them to navigate in
that strait.
But this is the result of the
aggression by Israelis and
Americans, which has made the
whole region insecure, unstable,
and the consequences are huge
for not only us, but for the
whole region.
And now for the international
community.
Amna: Iran has, though, hit
multiple oil facilities in other
nations and some of the region's
top producing nations, in fact,
Saudi Arabia and Iraq and
Kuwait.
And we heard from your top
military spokesman today, who
said, if you can tolerate oil at
more than $200 per barrel,
continue this game.
So is limiting oil supply part
of your strategy here?
>> Well, actually, this is a war
imposed on us.
And what we are doing is only
defending ourselves.
We are facing an act of
aggression, which is absolutely
illegal.
And what you are doing is the
act of self-defense, which is
legal and legitimate.
Well, we have already warned
everybody in the region that if
the U.S. Attack us, since we
cannot reach the American soil,
we have to attack their bases in
the region, their facilities,
their installations, their
assets.
And as a result, the war would
be spread into the whole region.
So this is the consequences, the
consequence of the U.S.
Aggression against us.
We are not responsible for that.
Amna: I do want to ask you about
another recent strike that
killed more than 170 people in
minab, in southern Iran.
It was at a girls' school.
We've heard from president trump
who said this weekend he denied
any U.S. Involvement.
Saturday, he actually said,
based on what I've seen, that
was done by Iran.
You have said that strike would
not go unanswered.
What did you mean by that?
>> Well, this is ridiculous.
I think the, you know, all U.S.
Medias and different sources
from American intelligence and
American media, everybody have
admitted that this is done by an
American missile.
There are footages of that.
The footages are analyzed by,
you know, neutral sources.
And it is now a consensus that
the attack is made by the united
States, and they are in charge
of the killing of 168 school
girls, who were absolutely
innocent.
They had set in their classrooms
and they all of a sudden they
were killed by American
military.
Amna: And we've heard from the
secretary of defense, an
investigation is ongoing.
But in saying that that strike
will not go unanswered, I should
note that Iranian strikes in
other nations have already
killed civilians.
Are you saying now that
civilians are fair targets in
other nations?
>> No, no, no, not at all.
Civilians are not target.
Maybe there has been some
collateral damages, which is
quite, you know, natural in any
war.
But we have not targeted,
contrary to Americans who
deliberately targeted our
schools and hospitals and our
infrastructure, even, you know,
freshwater desalination.
We have never targeted any
civilian, you know, location,
any civilian purpose, any
civilian place.
There might be some collateral
damages, as I said, but this is
not our plan to do that.
Amna: Your strikes in some of
your neighboring nations,
though, have hit a hotel.
They've hit oil facilities as
well.
We've heard from Saudi Arabia's
foreign minister, who's
condemning those attacks and
warning that it retains its full
right to take all necessary
measures to safeguard its
security.
Are you worried about the
regional impact of your strikes
in the neighboring nations, that
you will damage Iranian
relations in the long run?
>> Well, if they have all the
rights to take all necessary
measures to protect their
facilities, I think we are even,
you know.
We have more rights to to take
all necessary measures to defend
ourselves, to protect our
people.
And this is exactly what we are
doing.
Know this.
This is not our war.
This is not our choice.
This war is imposed on us.
We are under aggression and we
are defending ourselves.
They cannot accuse us for things
which happen on the other side.
They should accuse those who
started this war, and I think
they should be held responsible
for any damage inside Iran and
in the region, because
everything has started by the
United States and Israel.
Amna: U.S. Officials have noted
that they're targeting your
nuclear programs, your ballistic
missile and drone programs, your
naval assets.
There are some who've pointed
out they're also targeting
headquarters and facilities of
your internal security forces.
Some of those forces who have
been used to suppress public
dissent in the past.
And some analysts say the U.S.
May be laying the groundwork for
some kind of public uprising.
Do you believe that's the case?
And if protesters take to the
streets, will they be allowed to
protest?
>> Well, where are those
protesters?
We have now millions of people
in the streets right now in
support of the islamic republic,
in support of the new supreme
leader, in support of their
military, armed forces.
Where are those protesters?
People are -- the big majority
of people are now angry about
this aggression.
They are supporting, you know,
our armed forces.
They are in the streets with the
Iranian flags everywhere.
O where are those accusations
come from?
Yes, they have attacked many of
our facilities.
They have attacked our nuclear
facilities, but they couldn't
destroy our nuclear program,
because it is a technology
advanced and developed by
ourselves.
They have also attacked our
missile facilities, but they
have not been able to stop
firing missiles against
themselves.
So the firing continues, and we
are prepared.
We are well prepared to continue
attacking them, with our
missiles as long as needed.
And as long as it takes.
Amna: That is the foreign
minister of Iran, abbas Araki,
joining us today.
Mr. Foreign minister, thank you
for your time.
>> Thank you indeed.
Thank you for having me.
Amna: And a note, we did invite
white house officials for an