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Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that his country would do whatever necessary to defend itself against Israel.
In a post on X, Aragchi said that while Iran had “made tremendous efforts … to contain an all-out war” in the region, “we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”
Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1, avowedly in retaliation for the Israeli military’s killing of Iran-aligned militant leaders in the region. Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised a “lethal, precise and especially surprising” response to the Iranian attack.
Iran’s top diplomat has made a sustained effort to contain the scale of Israel’s potential retaliation. On Sunday he met with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, who said Baghdad was against an expansion of the Mideast war to Iran.
At a joint press conference, Aragchi reiterated that Iran would continue consultations “to prevent the escalation of tension in the region and to work for peace and [a] cease-fire” in the region.
He added that Iran was “fully prepared for a war situation … but we do not want war, we want peace.”
