Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi rejected US Claims of Planned Attack, Says They Were Meant to Justify Military Operation

Tehran [Iran]: Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi rejected on Wednesday that the country was plotting a “pre-emptive” attack on the US and its military, a claim that the US has used to justify attacking the Persian Gulf country.

Araghchi dismissed Operation Epic Fury as a falsehood, describing it as a grave misadventure.

In a post on X, the Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi rejected stated

In a post on X, the Iranian Foreign Minister stated, “The notion that Iran was plotting to strike the United States or its forces, whether preventively or preemptively, is a complete and utter lie. The primary goal of that falsehood is to legitimise Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure organised by Israel and funded by ordinary Americans.

His comments come as US President Donald Trump stated during a press briefing on Monday that military action in Iran was something he “felt” had to be done.

The claim that Iran was planning on attacking the U.S. or U.S. Forces, whether preventively or preemptively, is a sheer and utter lie.

The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans.

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 10, 2026

Trump had told reporters that he felt it was necessary to take military action in Iran. I didn’t think we had an option. If we hadn’t done it, Iran would have done it to us. Based on the conversations between Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Marco and Pete, and everyone else involved, I received the impression that they were seeking to bring us along before they hit. And I expected them to strike, and if they hit us first, it would have been disastrous.”

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Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, “We expected there would be an Israeli strike. We knew that would result in an attack on American soldiers, and we knew that if we didn’t go after them first, we’d suffer more casualties.

Meanwhile, during a news briefing on Tuesday, White House news Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump’s stance, saying that the “feeling” was founded on “facts”.

She told the journalists, “It was not the first time the President stated that he opted to initiate Operation Epic Fury because he believed Iran would hit the US and our assets in the region first. This was a sense the President had based on data presented to him by his senior negotiators who had been negotiating with the Iranian leadership in good faith.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian remembered Iran’s civilisational past and emphasised that “aggressors have come and gone; Iran has endured”.

In a post on X, he stated that Iran is the heir to a civilisation that is at least 6,000 years old. Throughout history, no force has been able to erase this illustrious name. Anyone who believes that Iran can be destroyed has no understanding of history. Aggressors have come and gone, but Iran has endured.”

The developments come amid an escalating security situation in West Asia, which has resulted in the conflict expanding beyond Iran, with Iranian retaliatory strikes targeting US military bases, embassies, and civilian/energy infrastructure in neighbouring Gulf nations such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.

The battle has created substantial interruptions to global energy supplies, particularly near the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20% of the world’s oil travels.