TEHRAN -- Iran is “fully prepared” to confront a renewed U.S.-Israeli war and will “stand until the last moment,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, warning Washington that its assumptions about Iranian weakness are wrong and that any new aggression will end in another strategic defeat for the United States.
“We are completely ready to defend ourselves and our people, and we will stand until the last moment,” Araghchi said in an interview with Iraq’s Al-Ikhbariya network. “They have tested us before and they can do it again.”
He described Iran’s readiness as deterrence rather than belligerence. 
“When I say we are ready for war, this does not necessarily mean we want war. On the contrary, our announcement of readiness is a message to the other side to make its calculations and not enter into the same war again,” he said. 
“I stress once again that we are as ready for war as we are for diplomacy.”
Araghchi stated that more than eight months into the war, Washington has achieved none of its objectives, calling that a strategic loss for the United States and a strategic win for Iran. 
“The American side has entered a deep quagmire and is trying hard to extricate itself by any means,” he said, pointing to military threats, fresh economic sanctions and pressure on Iran’s neighbors to shun Tehran. 
“Iran will by no means surrender, neither to economic sanctions nor to military threats. The only appropriate solution is diplomacy and a negotiated solution.”
He said the principal barrier to a new war is precisely Iran’s preparedness. “The Americans know well that through war they cannot achieve any of their objectives.” 
He said Washington has fallen “into Israel’s trap — more precisely, Netanyahu’s trap” in the two previous wars, saying the Israeli prime minister acts for personal gain rather than American, Israeli or any other people’s interests. “He does whatever serves his personal interest.”
In the Financial Times op-ed, Araghchi wrote that Trump launched the war on “fundamentally wrong assumptions and calculations about Iran’s resilience and endurance,” and that the U.S. president appears to still be receiving false intelligence suggesting Iran’s armed forces are unprepared to defend the country.
“For the record, I must stress that we have absolutely no trust in the sincerity of the U.S. administration’s claim that it seeks peace with Iran,” he wrote. 
“The evidence is there for all to see: in June 2025 and February 2026, we were bombed while negotiations were actively underway. Moreover, in June of this year, shortly after an agreement was signed by President Masoud Pezeshkian and Donald Trump, we were attacked for a third time. How can one trust the U.S. president again?”
He said Iran had entered three rounds of talks with Washington and “all three previous rounds led to war against us,” adding that in the third round a deal was reached with Trump, but Trump himself violated it and adhered to its terms for only two weeks. 
“Therefore, there is no trust whatsoever in the American approach.”
Araghchi was equally blunt on the Strait of Hormuz, insisting the waterway lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman and is not international. 
“Until an agreement or understanding is reached regarding this strait, the strait will not be open to everyone,” he said. 
“The current situation is the natural result of U.S. and Israeli military aggression against Iran. This situation will continue unless the American side decides to change its approach.”
He rejected the description of Hormuz as an international waterway, citing history: “Historically, the Strait of Hormuz has existed for thousands of years. In the era of the Hormuz Empire, when the Hormuz sovereignty existed, the strait took its name from that same sovereignty and was administered by it.” 
He added: “You can refer to the rules of international law and the geographical demarcation between Iran and Oman.”
He said a specific route map has been agreed with Oman and its coordinates drawn up, to be registered with the International Maritime Organization. 
“If one day the Strait of Hormuz is to be reopened, the route agreed between Iran and Oman will be the real and agreed path for ships to pass — not another route.”
Asked why Iran has stepped up attacks on ships in recent days after a lull, he said: “Our position is completely clear: the Strait of Hormuz is closed. Any ship that wants to pass through this waterway will face many problems.” 
He added: “The question should be asked of the Americans: why does America allow ships to pass through a waterway that, due to the absence of an agreement, faces enormous problems?”
Dismissing accusations that Iran directs Yemen’s Ansarullah, Araghchi said: “The issue of the Red Sea and the developments there have absolutely nothing to do with us.” 
He described Yemen as responding to years of Saudi blockade, saying: “The people of Yemen have for years been under an economic blockade by Saudi Arabia and have suffered the consequences of this suffocating blockade for more than a decade.”
“Now the Yemeni people believe they have found an opportunity to break this blockade; they have created a blockade against the Saudi side using Bab al-Mandab. My question is: what does this have to do with us as Iran?”
He described neither Hezbollah nor Ansarullah as “subordinate to Iran” but as “independent groups.” 
“Yes, they are our friends because they resist and strive for legitimate, legal and just goals. From this perspective, we support them, but this support does not necessarily mean they take orders from us.”
He said Iran has offered to mediate between Yemen and Saudi Arabia but has received no response from either side, calling this “an indication of the degree of Ansarullah’s independence in its own decisions.” 
He added that both sides have conditions — the Yemenis have theirs, and Saudi Arabia has conditions Yemen will not accept. “We must help bring the two sides’ views closer.”
He warned that any Egyptian intervention in Yemen would “complicate the situation further,” noting that Cairo had previously informed Tehran its potential role would be confined to defending Saudi Arabia and that it would not directly enter a conflict with the Yemenis.
Araghchi said the nuclear dispute is a pretext for a deeper hostility toward Iran’s system of governance. “What they oppose and do not accept is the thinking of Iran’s system and Iranian thought,” he said. 
“The nuclear issue is nothing but an excuse.” He noted that Iran had reached an agreement with the world on the nuclear file and the whole world welcomed it, but the U.S. side withdrew without presenting any evidence. 
“The same thing happened again in Islamabad. In Islamabad, specific provisions were agreed, but the American side once again violated its commitments.”