Iranian foreign minister: Tehran will do ‘whatever it takes’ after US, Israeli strikes

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday his country will do “whatever it takes” to defend itself amid a series of U.S. and Israeli strikes. 

“We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people,” Araghchi told host George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’s “This Week.”

The joint U.S. and Israeli strikes Saturday killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other political and military leaders in Tehran. In the wake of Khamenei’s death, an interim leadership council composed of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Guardian Council jurist member Ayatollah Alireza Arafi and head of the Iranian judiciary Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i are running the country, according to Iranian state television Press TV.

More than 200 Iranians have been killed in the strikes, according to Press TV, which cited the Iranian Red Crescent Society. As of 9:30 a.m. EST, three American service members have been killed, while five have been injured, according to U.S. Central Command. 

President Trump, meanwhile, said Saturday the strikes provide the Iranian people with the opportunity to take control of their country. The Islamic Republic has led the Middle Eastern country since the Iranian Revolution concluded in 1979.

“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump told the Iranian public. “This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”

The president has also warned the Iranian government against retaliating, saying Saturday the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and police should “lay down your arms” to avoid “certain death.”

But Araghchi said Sunday that “any leader of a country has [no] right” to dictate Iran’s response. In response to the U.S.-Israeli strikes, Iran has launched drone and missile strikes on U.S. bases in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, in addition to attacks on Israel — the latter of which resulted in at least nine Israelis killed, according to Haaretz.

“So, one should tell the president of the United States, do not attack, do not make any aggression against another country,” Araghchi added. “But nobody can tell us that you don’t have any right to defend yourselves.”

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