The recent interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has sparked widespread reactions within Iran.
In this interview, Araqchi defended the decision to cease fire with the United States and Israel on the fortieth day of the war, and even considered that this ceasefire should have taken place before that, specifically ten days earlier, stressing that if that had happened, Iran could have avoided further losses.
This interview, and Araqchi’s statements regarding the details of the attack on the leadership house, the Supreme Leader’s office, in Tehran on February 28, 2026, the high-level meetings held during the war, the decision-making mechanism related to the war, and the nature of communication with Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader, resonated widely in Iranian and foreign media. However, the official Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IRIB) refrained from covering or referring to this interview.
Many hardliners criticized the interview, particularly the parts where Araqchi argued that the attack that killed the former Supreme Leader, along with several military commanders, revealed security gaps that persist to this day. He went beyond simply pointing to security vulnerabilities, suggesting they also impact decision-making processes and public opinion within society. While conservatives and hardliners criticized the interview, reformist figures and media outlets welcomed it.
In the interview, Araqchi stressed that if Iran had agreed to a ceasefire one week earlier during the forty-day war, a number of officials, including Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib and the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, would not have been killed, nor would the facilities of the Mobarakeh Steel Company and the energy complexes in Asaluyeh have been targeted.
His interviewer, documentary filmmaker Javad Moghuei, was also subjected to criticism, including accusations that he revealed some confidential information, such as his talk about the movement of military leaders inside secret tunnels in Tehran, about which he had information.
Javad Moghuei responded to the criticisms directed at Araqchi’s interview, saying: “They are attacking us so that only one narrative is broadcast, which is the narrative of the official Iranian Broadcasting Corporation (IRIB) with a limited number of well-known experts.”
He added, referring to those criticisms: “No secret or classified matter was published. All this information has already been discussed by the Broadcasting and Television Authority and others. The narrative in wartime is different from the narrative in peacetime. When the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence is assassinated twice, what can the foreign minister say about the security breach?!”
This interview became the headline story in a large number of Tehran newspapers. Reformist newspapers gave it extensive coverage, publishing its photos and headlines on their front pages, while conservative newspapers, such as Kayhan, Hamshahri and Javan, refrained from highlighting it on their front pages, in a move that was seen as an expression of their dissatisfaction with its content.
The conservative news website Tabnak criticized the foreign minister in an article titled: “What was Araqchi’s goal in this strange interview?”
The hardline newspaper Javan, in an editorial by Gholam Reza Sadeghian entitled: “The time is not right for such dialogues,” criticized the interview that Araqchi conducted with a documentary filmmaker, saying: “The interview that Araqchi conducted with a documentary filmmaker is one of those actions that should not have been done, and should not be repeated in the future. Such dialogues, in the midst of war, only serve to provide the enemy with additional information.”
The newspaper added: “Why is it said that if we had accepted the ceasefire at a certain time, some people and some of our industrial facilities would have survived?! If we take this logic, then if we had accepted the ceasefire from the first day when the message of surrender reached us, the number of martyrs and losses would have been less as well! It has been said repeatedly that the United States sent a message calling for a ceasefire from the first week.”
She continued: “Why all this disclosure of our whereabouts, and the whereabouts of the other important figures, and what we were discussing in the meetings of the Supreme National Security Council?! It is only a matter of time before they also say what decisions we made! Some of these statements, if they do not make the Iranians feel insulted, certainly do not instill in them a sense of pride and honor.”
The conservative news website Tabnak criticized the interview in an article titled: “What was Araqchi’s goal in this strange interview?” It wrote: Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, whose position and status allow him to easily conduct interviews with the most prominent Iranian and international media outlets, preferred, in a strange and unprofessional move, to sit in the position of the accused before an ordinary person, and to conduct an interview that came out full of informational and security errors, and provided a free service to the Zionist regime.”
Tabnak added: “In this interview, Araqchi said things and heard questions that were perhaps of more intelligence value to the Israeli and American security services than they were attractive to his audience.”
The reformist newspaper “Sazandegi” published a picture of Araqchi during the interview, with the headline: “The security gap still exists,” a quote from a statement by the Iranian foreign minister that angered the hardline faction.
The newspaper report stated: “Araghchi speaks of a security breach that led to the bombing of the Supreme Leader’s residence and the assassination of the martyred leader, and he emphasizes that this breach has not yet been closed. It is not limited to infiltration and information gathering, but is also active in influencing decision-making trends and shaping the psychological climate within society. This is perhaps the most important aspect of his recent statements, as the Foreign Minister, for the first time, does not only link the concept of a ‘security breach’ to enemy intelligence operations, but also to the decision-making process.”
The conservative newspaper “Nobonyad”, a newly established newspaper close to ministers in the government of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, published a critical article entitled: “Araqchi’s Parallel World”.
On the other hand, the conservative newspaper Nobonyad, a recently established publication close to ministers in the government of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, published a critical article titled: “Araqchi’s Parallel World.” It stated: “The foreign minister’s remarks in a dubious documentary program revealed the extent of the gap between the diplomatic apparatus and the actual realities of war and negotiations.”
The newspaper added: “In this interview, Araqchi confirms that he had told some officials during the meetings: If you believe that the negotiations are a trick, then beware of being deceived and not being surprised. Here, Mr. Araqchi should be asked: If this belief actually existed, then why were several important meetings held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, the first day of the forty-day war, in the home of the martyred Supreme Leader? And why were the Leader and his family members martyred, according to what the Supreme Leader said, as a result of the element of surprise? And how can what happened not be described as a surprise?”
The article continued: “What can be learned from Araqchi’s interview is that the diplomatic apparatus of Masoud Pezeshkian’s government has not learned the lessons even after three wars in one year, and has not taken heed of what happened, which is something that may be more dangerous for the country and more costly than the wars themselves that the last year witnessed.”
The conservative newspaper “Nobonyad” also attacked Araqchi’s interviewer and the program that hosted the interview, writing: “One of the most striking aspects of this interview is the amount of security and military information that was presented extensively and without reservation. The program’s host spoke frankly about the locations of military tunnels in Tehran and about the movement of armed forces commanders inside them. Even when Araqchi refrained from going into details, the program’s host proceeded to reveal additional information related to the equipment inside those tunnels.”
