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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is alive “as far as I know” in an interview with NBC News.
Araghchi added that “almost all officials are safe and sound and alive,” noting that Iran may have lost “one or two commanders, but that is not a big problem.”
He also claimed that he had been in contact with Gulf states and “explained for them that we have no intention to attack them but we are actually attacking the American bases in the act of self-defence”.
There was no longer any communication with Washington, he added.
Araghchi described attempts at regime change as “Mission Impossible” and stated that Tehran is “certainly interested for de-escalation.”
“If Americans wants to talk to us. They know how they can contact me. We are certainly interested for de-escalation.”
Earlier on Saturday, Israel conducted a “preemptive” strike on Iran under the code name “Lion’s Roar” and declared a “special and immediate” state of emergency.
Trump later said that US forces carried out “major combat operations” in Iran aimed at “protecting the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
The military actions occurred while negotiations between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program were ongoing. A new round of talks in Geneva, mediated by Oman, ended on Thursday.
