Video: Iran lawmaker says forces authorized to shoot 'enemy collaborators'

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is prepared to confront a potential US ground invasion and is not afraid of American troops entering the country.

Asked in an interview with NBC News whether he feared a US ground invasion, Araghchi replied: “No, we are waiting for them.”

“We are ready for this war,” he added.

Speaking in an online press conference for Persian-language media outlets abroad, the spokesperson said Israel observed that Tehran had resumed rebuilding its missile production systems after the June 2025 conflict and continued pursuing its nuclear program.

According to the spokesperson, Iran had around 3000 missiles before the June 2025 war, many of which were used or destroyed during that conflict.

“By Saturday, when Operation Lion's Roar began, it had managed to rebuild 2500 missiles through renewed and mass production.”

“If this trend had continued, the regime could have reached 8000 ballistic missiles by 2027.”

Israel and the United States launched coordinated strikes across Iran on February 28 under what Israel calls Operation Lion’s Roar, targeting military and strategic sites.

The airstrikes killed nearly 40 high-ranking Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the first 24 hours, and continue to destroy Iran's military capabilities, according to the Israeli military.

Two-thirds of Iran launchers destroyed

The spokesperson said Israeli forces had struck hundreds of targets inside Iran since the start of the current war.

“So far we have attacked 700 regime targets,” he said. “300 launchers out of Iran’s total 450 missile launch platforms have been disabled or destroyed.”

He said the Israeli Air Force had flown more than 7000 operational hours during the campaign and that Israeli forces had also carried out strikes in Lebanon.

“At the same time as the operation in Iran, we destroyed more than 320 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures in Lebanon.”

According to the spokesperson, Israel has mobilized 110000 reservists and will continue its operations until threats against the country are eliminated.

Why Iran war was necessary

The spokesperson said Israel launched its current military campaign to counter what he described as long-term threats posed by the Islamic Republic, which had sought Israel’s destruction for decades.

“The overall and fundamental objective of Israel’s operation is to strike the terrorist targets of the Islamic Republic regime and especially to remove serious and operational threats that have been carried out against Israel over the long term,” the spokesperson said.

“The Islamic Republic has for 47 years dreamed of the destruction of Israel and has repeatedly stated in its own media at various times that the destruction of Israel is at the top of its political, security and ideological objectives. For this reason it was necessary to begin this operation.”

“In just the past year they transferred about $900 million or even up to $1 billion to their proxy groups in the region such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.”

Civilian casualties

Asked about reports of an airstrike on an elementary and preschool complex in Minab, southern Iran where over 160 people were killed, the spokesman denied any Israeli involvement, saying "the Israeli army had no operation in the Minab area and it was not within its operational zone."

“I'm not accusing anyone, but in many cases such as the Ukrainian airplane shootdown in 2020 we have seen that the regime itself made a mistake but accused others.”

The spokesperson added: “I express my sympathy and condolences to the people of that region. It is painful when one sees those scenes. No war can be pleasant or without casualties.”

The spokesman said Israel uses precision-guided munitions and issues evacuation warnings before strikes. “Israel only targets strategic objectives and uses the most precise precision-guided munitions so that only the intended area is struck."

“We are the only army in the world that issues evacuation warnings before attacks to prevent civilian casualties. In contrast, Iran cuts the internet so people cannot access those warnings.”

He also referred to the Israeli casualties in Iran's missile strikes, saying, “In Iranian missile attacks on residential and civilian areas so far, 12 Israeli civilians have been killed and more than 370 have been wounded."

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the United States had failed to achieve a rapid military victory in the conflict, in a post on X addressed to US President Donald Trump.

“Plan A for a clean rapid military victory failed, Mr. President. Your Plan B will be even bigger failure,” Araghchi wrote.

Araghchi also said a potential diplomatic agreement had been lost after the conflict began, claiming negotiations had been making “significant progress” before the war and accusing what he called an “America Last” faction of derailing the talks.

“‘Israel First’ always means ‘America Last,’” he added.

President Donald Trump said the United States would accept assistance from any country to defend against Iranian.

“Certainly I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country,” Trump said in a telephone interview with Reuters when asked about the offer.

Earlier, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kyiv had received a specific request from the United States for help dealing with drones in the Middle East.

"We want to be involved in the process of choosing the person who is going to lead Iran into the future," Reuters quoted Trump as saying.

"We don't have to go back every five years and do this again and again ... Somebody that's going to be great for the people, great for the country," he added.

Trump said it was very early in the process of picking a new leader but that Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba was an unlikely choice, according to the report.

Asked about reports of US support for Kurdish forces launching an offensive into Iran,Trump said: “I think it’s wonderful if they want to do that.”