Related Articles
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran has rejected a US request to open negotiations.
“The Americans have asked for negotiations, and our answer is no,” Araghchi said in comments published by the Entekhab news outlet.
He also said US President Donald Trump’s language around Israeli military actions shows Washington is already involved. “There is no longer any need for proof,” he said.
Araghchi added that calls for ending the war have already begun and will continue to grow. “We are engaged in legitimate self-defense, and this defense will not stop,” he said.
Russia would view the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a highly dangerous escalation and considers regime change in Iran “unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Sky News on Friday.
“They will open the Pandora's box,” Peskov said, referring to Khamenei being named as a possible target of Israeli or US strikes.
He warned that the region is already extremely tense and said any expansion of the conflict would further destabilize the Middle East. “It will lead only to another circle of confrontation and escalation of tension,” he said.
Peskov added that an assassination attempt could trigger a response from inside Iran and fuel extremist sentiment. “Those who are speaking about this should keep it in mind,” he said.
His comments followed a statement by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said Thursday that Israel's war aims include removing Iran’s nuclear and missile threats, adding that “such a man [Khamenei] can no longer be allowed to exist.”
US President Donald Trump, who has said he will decide within two weeks whether the United States will join Israel’s military campaign, said earlier this week that the US would not kill Khamenei—“at least not yet.”
Iran condemned Israel’s strike on the Arak heavy water reactor, saying it targeted a safeguarded nuclear facility in violation of international law, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.
Araghchi urged the UN Security Council to enforce its own resolutions against military attacks on nuclear sites, warning that failure to respond would undermine the global nonproliferation system.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Thursday that the reactor—while non-operational and containing no nuclear material—had sustained damage to key buildings, including the distillation unit. The IAEA said there were no radiological consequences and that the adjacent heavy water production plant was not hit.
Public rallies are set to take place across Iran on Friday following weekly prayers, despite ongoing Israeli military attacks, Fars News, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported.
The event, called the “Friday of Rage and Victory,” is meant to show unity and defiance in response to Israeli strikes, Fars said.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, is alive and in stable condition, according to Fars News, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Fars quoted Shamkhani on Friday as saying he is “alive and ready to sacrifice,” in a text message addressed to Iran’s leadership and public.
Shamkhani was reportedly seriously wounded in a June 13 Israeli strike on his residence and transferred to a hospital in Tehran, according to Nour News, which is close to the Supreme National Security Council.
Iran International had earlier reported, citing sources, that Shamkhani had succumbed to his injuries.
