Lebanon rejects Iran’s interference over Hezbollah’s future

“We are ready to negotiate and we have always been ready, the same as in 2015. In 2025 we were negotiating when America and Israel attacked us. We are still ready, but real negotiation needs to be serious,” France 24 cited Araghchi during an interview in Paris.

Asked about the mediation of Saudi Arabia between Iran and the United States, Araghchi said the problem at the moment is not intermediary and they are plenty, but the problem is Washington.

“When the American government ceases dictating and indicates they are ready for a proper agreement, then we can achieve a win-win relationship,” he added. “We are not in rush, and waiting for real negotiations, not just exaggerated requests.”

Reuters reported last week, citing two sources familiar with the exchange, that President Pezeshkian had urged the crown prince to help persuade US President Donald Trump to revive nuclear talks.

Trump said the United States was talking to Tehran, which he said "very badly” wanted a deal with Washington.

‘IAEA ignores war realities’

Araghchi criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors’ recent resolution as a ‘unilateral political decision’ that overlooks attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“The board is a political body and the IAEA a technical one. The resolution ignores the realities on the ground, as if there was no war and our civilian facilities were not attacked,” Araghchi said. “New modalities are needed for attacked sites and must be negotiated with the agency.”

‘Prisoner exchange’

Araghchi said a prisoner swap with France is imminent but currently pending some judicial processes that need to be completed.

“An exchange was negotiated between us and France involving detained French nationals Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, expected over the next one or two months,” he said.

Iran has released French prisoners Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris who had been detained since 2022 and the couple are currently residing in France embassy in Tehran.

Iran seeks the release of Mahdieh Esfandiari in France who was due to face trial in January on charges of ‘promoting acts of terrorism.’

Talks with France

While in Paris, Araghchi also met French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot for discussions on Iran’s nuclear program, detained French nationals, and regional issues, according to the French foreign ministry.

Barrot voiced “serious concern” over Iran’s nuclear activities and urged Tehran to “return without delay” to full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. He also raised the cases of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens currently staying at the French embassy in Tehran, and called for their rapid return to France.

The French statement said the ministers also discussed regional stability, including support for Lebanon’s sovereignty, efforts to maintain the Gaza ceasefire, and reviving prospects for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.

‘Never interfered in Lebanon’

Asked if Iran wants Hezbollah to attack Israel since the group is weak which resulted in weakness of Tehran too, Araghchi said Iran is not weak and does not interfere.

“We have never interfered in their affairs. It is the Lebanese army and Hezbollah who make their own decisions.” Araghchi said. “This erroneous interpretation of Iranian decline that you mention, is what encouraged Israel to attack us.”

Iran condemned Israel's recent airstrike on a densely populated area in Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb on November 23, 2025, which killed senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai.

‘real danger’

Araghchi called for a unified Syria under central authority to prevent regional chaos, accusing Israel of exploiting Bashar al-Assad’s fall to seize more territory.

“Israel attacked and occupied parts of Gaza, Palestine, and now Syria. The real danger is Israel,” he said.

Asked about Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa’s hostility toward Tehran and openness to the US and Israel, Araghchi said: “Yes, like many other people, he is mistaken.”

“This flight, along with other flights by Islamic Republic of Iran Army fighters, is a routine and long-standing measure to ensure sustainable security in Iran’s skies and will continue in the future,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

An uneasy truce prevails between Mideast arch-enemies Iran and Israel after they traded blows in a 12-day war in June. Their rivalry persists and officials from both countries have vowed to soundly punish the other if fighting resumes.

The denial follows a report by the Israeli outlet JFeed saying Israel Air Force fighter jets briefly entered eastern Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border for reconnaissance.

Iraq’s Ministry of Defense also rejected any foreign intrusion, saying the aircraft sounds heard in several provinces were from routine Iraqi Air Force training missions.

'Psy-op'

JFeed reported that residents in Iraq’s Maysan province near Amarah heard sonic booms consistent with jets flying at high speed.

Prior to the denial from Iraq’s Ministry of Defense, Iranian news outlets offered their own analyses of the incident. Mehr News called it a baseless psychological operation, while Tabnak presented a narrative as if the incursion had actually occurred.

“What happened in Iraqi airspace was not a field operation but a psychological-media scenario aimed at casting the shadow of war, creating a sense of insecurity, and provoking Iranian public opinion,” Mehr News wrote on Wednesday.

“The goal of the operation is seen as a display of Israeli power: a response to attacks by Iran-backed militias in Iraq or a simulation of a possible attack on Iran via Iraqi airspace,” wrote Tabnak, closely affiliated with former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei.

Iran’s air defenses were severely degraded during the Israeli military campaign in June, enabling Israeli and US warplanes to bomb the country more easily.

Since the ceasefire, Iran says it has rebuilt its air defense and missile capabilities.

As newspapers warned of collapsing pension funds, chaotic currency markets and rising poverty, Ghalibaf this week moved to appropriate part of the government’s plan to shield low-income families from soaring prices.

It was not the first time he claimed credit for a program launched nearly a decade ago under Hassan Rouhani, but the timing underscored his intent: advance precisely as Pezeshkian is too embattled to push back.

Speaking in the Majles on Wednesday, Ghalibaf proposed replacing the 1980s coupon system with smart-card rationing and portrayed himself as the champion of cost-of-living issues.

He said the scheme would stabilize prices year-round, an ambitious promise in a market where staples such as rice and meat have quadrupled in price since 2020.

For Ghalibaf, however, the political optics appear to outweigh economic feasibility.

At Pezeshkian’s expense

Pezeshkian, who defeated Ghalibaf in last year’s presidential race, now faces intense criticism for promises he is struggling to deliver. Some of the failure is his administration’s own missteps; much of it is structural.

Iran’s economic landscape is dominated by quasi-state foundations, conglomerates linked to the Revolutionary Guards, and networks whose interests often run counter to national policy.

Sanctions remain a permanent drag, yet the president has no authority over nuclear or foreign policy to address them. Key domestic and foreign policy decision-making rests with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Tehran’s media and political insiders rarely point to these upper floors of power, leaving the elected administration to absorb the blame.

‘Catastrophe looming’

Iran’s oldest—and relatively neutral— daily Ettela’at captured the depth of the crisis with an unusually stark editorial on Wednesday.

“Pension funds are on the verge of bankruptcy and instability in the foreign exchange market has driven up prices, directly affecting the livelihood of the lower strata of society,” it wrote, chastising the government for placing “massive monetary and forex resources at the disposal of unknown individuals.”

The collapse of pension funds, the daily warned, will be “an irreversible social catastrophe for the country and the nation.”

Ettela’at also weighed in on the sensitive issue of fuel prices, which Pezeshkian has promised to address but finds all but impossible to touch. “You must be too brave to start a losing game of doing away with fuel subsidies,” the editorial warned.

Tehran’s prominent economic daily Jahan Sanat ran three analyses attacking the administration’s “uncalculated” economic decisions. It accused Pezeshkian of “giving a green light to price rises” by scrapping the preferential exchange rate for essential imports, creating uncertainty around the supply of basic staples.

In this climate of economic deterioration, institutional constraints and relentless public pressure, Ghalibaf appears to have sensed opportunity.

By inserting himself into economic policymaking and presenting himself as the official focused on the people’s livelihood, he is positioning for political advantage—likely with an eye on the next presidential race.

Contacted for comment, neither the Ugandan nor Senegalese embassies immediately responded.

In a recording of his debriefing obtained and reviewed by Iran International, the Ugandan man said he was approached by a Pakistani national professing to belong to the Quds force.

The man, Zahid Jawad, instructed him to film the Israeli embassies in the two African countries and procure hand guns and grenades for a potential attack.

He added that an Iranian member of the Quds Force later contacted him on WhatsApp and offered payment in exchange for cooperation.

The Ugandan man said Quds Force members referred to him as “Rambo,” after the American action movie character.

Iran International has reviewed screenshots of some of the exchanges but cannot independently verify the authenticity of the communications.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tehran has in recent years been alleged by Western security agencies and media reports to have recruited petty criminals and gang members to carry out attacks on dissidents and Israeli interests.

A federal court in New York last month convicted two alleged mobsters of seeking to kill US-based Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad in a plot prosecutors said was orchestrated by the IRGC.

Quds Force Unit 840

The intelligence source told Iran International that three Iranian members of the alleged bid to recruit the man have been identified as Meysam Sahraei, Reza Ghabadi and Abbas Mohammad Naeim.

The source said all three work for Unit 840 of the IRGC’s Quds Force commanded by Yazdan Mir, known by the alias Sardar Bagheri, whom Western intelligence agencies believe is tasked with targeting dissidents as well as Israeli and American interests.

Tehran has consistently denied such accusations.

In one of the Whatsapp exchanges, the Iranian contact allegedly allegedly sent the Ugandan man an image of a grenade and instructed him to purchase a similar device.

The Ugandan national asserted that his contact consulted a supervisor and obtained approval of funds to be transferred to his account.

Iran International has not been able to independently verify whether any payments were made or surveillance was carried out.

'Proxy of a proxy'

The intelligence source described Iran's method of recruiting foreign nationals via other foreign nationals as a “proxy-of-a-proxy” model.

A similar pattern was seen three years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the same source, when the Quds Force allegedly recruited a Congolese student then studying at Al-Mustafa International University in Qom to scout potential targets.

His handler, the source said, was Mehdi Hassan, a Pakistani member of the Zainabiyoun Brigade militia which operated in Syria during that country's civil war.

Hotspot Uganda

Separate information obtained by Iran International appears to show that the IRGC may also be using Uganda as a logistical waypoint for arms shipments to its regional allies.

The East African nation maintains warm relations with Israel, and during a visit five years ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the Ugandan president to consider opening an embassy in Jerusalem.

A source within Iran's Mahan Air told Iran International that the IRGC has been transporting weapons aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft registered with Fars Qeshm Air, using routes that pass through African countries en route to Yemen.

International flight registry data shows that on September 24, the aircraft flew from Bandar Abbas to Entebbe, Uganda.

According to the source, the plane first traveled from Tehran to Bandar Abbas to refuel due to the heavy cargo load. On October 28, the same aircraft reportedly made another delivery flight from Tehran to Uganda.

Data from Flightradar24 confirms that flights matching these routes took place, but flight-tracking information alone does not indicate cargo type or purpose.

The source said the Islamic Republic has sought new logistical corridors since the loss of its long-standing transit hub in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad last year.

Iran International contacted ministries for security and internal affairs in Uganda and Senegal, but neither responded immediately.

In a phone call with his Venezuelan counterpart, Araghchi condemned what he called "the United States' bullying approach toward Venezuela and other independent developing countries in the Western Hemisphere," according to state media.

Washington’s "threat to use force against Venezuela is a clear example of a gross violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and the peremptory norms of international law," he added.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has been amassing forces in the Caribbean in the biggest military buildup in the region for decades.

Washington accuses Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of narco-terrorism and has offered a $50 million dollar reward for information leading to his arrest. The US strategy remains unclear but appears aimed at unseating the leftist populist.

Ties between Iran and Venezuela flourished under Maduro's predecessor Hugo Chavez and the countries continue to find common ground over objections to US policy.

Araghchi on Wednesday urged UN member states to rally against "America’s aggressive unilateralism" and accused its Mideast foe Israel of being a menace to Latin America, calling it "a major threat to the region’s peace, stability and security."

US news outlets citing US and Israeli officials reported this month that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sought to kill the Israeli ambassador to Mexico but the plot was thwarted over the summer by Mexican security forces. Iran denied the allegations.