The United States has taken a more confrontational stance toward Iran. Has this hostility always existed? What has changed in recent years? Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has offered a blunt explanation for decades of US hostility toward his country — tracing it back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and a persistent cycle of mistrust fed by Israeli lobbies.
Speaking with India Today TV in an exclusive interview, Iran’s Foreign Minister said Iran believes American policy, including under President Donald Trump, has been formed by misunderstanding and external influence rather than direct engagement with Iranian society.
Abbas Araghchi traced the roots of today’s hostility to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which toppled the US-backed Shah and replaced a Western-aligned monarchy with the Islamic Republic, which fundamentally changed Iran’s relationship with Washington and its allies.
“Everything began from the Islamic Revolution in Iran,” he said. “I think Americans failed to understand why it happened. So they started, you know, hostility against that.”
“So in the past 47 years, we have been the subject or the victim of their hostility against us,” he said. “They tried everything. They tried coups several times. They helped Saddam Hussein to impose an eight-year war against us. Last year, another war. All kinds of sanctions. Maximum pressures. And they failed.”
IRAN BLAMES ISRAELI LOBBIES FOR MISINFORMATION
The Iranian Minister said US views of Iran have been formed by external narratives rather than direct understanding.
“Because they have no real information about Iran and Iranian people,” he said. “And they are fed with misinformation campaigns, mostly by Israeli lobbies.”
Despite sharp criticism, Araghchi said Iran remains open to a different trajectory in relations if US changes its policy. His remarks come as Tehran and Washington prepare for a third round of indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva, mediated by Oman, amid renewed military tensions. He said relations could improve if Washington adopted what he called a respectful approach.
“I believe that the only solution to talk is to talk with the Iranian people with a language of respect,” he said. “If they try that language, they will see the result. That we would also talk with them with the same language.”
MISSILE RANGE CAPPED AT 2,000KM
The Foreign Minister also rejected claims that Tehran is developing long-range missiles capable of reaching the US, calling such allegations “fake news”. In an interview, he said Iran has intentionally capped the range of its missiles below 2,000 kilometres, which, he claims, are designed purely for defence and deterrence, not as a global threat. According to the Iranian Minister, Trump became a victim of fake news.
He said Iran’s missile programme is meant to protect the country, citing self-defence during last June’s war, which he blamed on Israel and the United States. He accused Israel of being the only actor in the region seeking conflict and said Iran would continue to maintain defensive capabilities.
