The United States and Israel have crossed a significant red line by targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump confirmed strikes on three Iranian sites.
“They crossed a very big red line by attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Araghchi said at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.
His comments followed Trump’s announcement that U.S. warplanes struck Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—key parts of Iran’s nuclear programme—nine days into Israel’s air campaign against Iran.
“The most dangerous one happened only last night,” Araghchi noted, warning that Iran would respond “by all means necessary” to both U.S. military aggression and what he called the “reckless and unlawful actions of the Israeli regime.”
Araghchi also revealed he would travel to Moscow on Sunday and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday for urgent talks in the aftermath of the airstrikes.
“I’m going to Moscow this afternoon,” he said. “Serious consultations with the Russian president are scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
Following the strikes, Trump said Iran “must now agree to end this war” and vowed the country would never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. But Araghchi dismissed any calls to return to negotiations as “irrelevant.”
“The world must not forget that it was the United States who—amid diplomatic efforts—betrayed diplomacy by backing the genocidal Israeli regime’s illegal war of aggression,” he said.
“We were engaging in diplomacy, but we were attacked. They gave a green light to the Israelis—if not outright instructions—to target our nuclear facilities. These actions prove they are not men of diplomacy, but understand only threats and force.”
