interview: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

[0:00] We turn now to the foreign minister of Iran, Abbas Araghchi. Good evening to you, sir. [0:07] Well, good evening to you. Thank you for having me for the second time. [0:12] Yes, and they are extraordinary times. Minister, President Trump said this weekend he is not ready [0:19] to make a deal with Iran because the terms aren't good enough yet. His administration is saying this [0:26] war could last another three and a half weeks or so. Has Iran asked for a ceasefire? [0:33] No, we never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation. We are ready [0:40] to defend ourselves as long as it takes, and this is what we have done so far, and we continue to do [0:48] that until President Trump comes to the point that this is an illegal war with no victory [0:58] and no victory. [0:59] And, you know, there are, you know, people being killed only because President Trump [1:11] wants to have fun. This is what he has said. [1:15] Have fun? [1:16] We are not. Yes, this is what he said, that they are sinking, you know, ships and targeting [1:23] different places because it is fun. And the Secretary of War has said that there is no [1:33] mercy. And this is actually a war crime. Even saying that is a war crime. So this is a war of [1:45] choice by President Trump and the United States, and we are going to continue our self-defense. [1:52] Well, that may be your position, but, sir, this is a war of survival for your government. [1:59] Minister, don't you have to negotiate and reach out either directly or through a third party? [2:04] No, it's not a war of survival. We are, you know, stable and strong enough. We are only [2:11] defending our people from, you know, this act of aggression. And we don't see any reason [2:24] why we should talk with Americans, because we were talking with them when they decided [2:29] to attack us. And that was for the second time. There is no good experience talking [2:34] with Americans. [2:35] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. [2:36] We were talking. So why they decided to attack us? So what is good if we go back to talk once again? [2:44] Well, I want to come back to that in just a moment. You're referring to the diplomacy [2:48] with President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his envoy, Steve Witkoff. But [2:53] just to continue on this, Iran is sending its drones and its missiles into your neighboring [2:59] countries, American allies throughout the Gulf. Before the war, your government traded with [3:05] them. You had relations with them. If your government survives this conflict, how do [3:11] you go back to doing business with countries you're sending drones into and hitting civilian [3:16] targets? [3:17] Well, obviously, these are the countries who have given their soil to American forces to [3:23] attack us. So what can we do? We just sit and watch that Americans or American forces [3:29] are attacking us from their soil. [3:31] But your drones are going into civilian areas and hitting plants and hotels and... [3:36] No, no, this is not the fact. We are only targeting American assets, American installations, [3:43] American military bases. Everything belongs to Americans. And this is a fact that they [3:48] are using their soil. You know, just there are many, many examples. Just yesterday, they [3:56] attacked our islands using HIMARS artillery rockets, which are low-range, you know, rockets. [4:06] And they used the territory of the UAE to attack us. And a week ago, three F-15 jet [4:14] fighters were shot down apparently by a friendly [4:19] fire in Kuwait. But nobody asked what they were doing in Kuwait. They were using Kuwait [4:25] and a space of a friend, a friendly country to attack us. So it is obvious we cannot just [4:32] remain silent. [4:35] MS.soluk- Right. Well, so many of these countries... [4:36] countries are part of CENTCOM, but this is the point is that it's going to hurt your country [4:41] in the long term. But when we talk about the Strait of Hormuz, which is such an important [4:46] transit point for global trade, you have said it is closed to Israel and it's closed to the [4:52] United States. The Financial Times is reporting that European diplomats from France and Italy [4:57] are talking to your government about trying to get safe passage for their ships. Are you open [5:04] to restarting oil and gas vessels going through there? Well, we are open to countries who [5:11] want to talk to us about the safe passage of their vessels. You are negotiating with France [5:17] and Italy? Well, I cannot mention any country in particular, but we have been approached by [5:25] a number of countries who want to have a safe passage for their vessels. And this is up to [5:31] our military to decide. And they have already decided to let [5:35] a group of vessels belong to different countries to pass safe and secure. So we provide them [5:45] security to pass because we have not closed this strait. They are not coming themselves [5:50] because of the insecurity which is there because of the aggression by the U.S. [5:54] I want to ask you again about the negotiations. Iran has declared it has 440 kilos or so of [6:02] nuclear material. Where is that material now? Who has custody? [6:06] Well, we have not declared. This is verified and declared by the agency. This is not a secret. [6:15] This is not a secret. You know, the agency have said in his many reports the exact amount [6:20] of our enriched nuclear material. So where is it now? Who has custody of it? [6:26] They are there under the rubble. You know, our nuclear facilities were attacked and everything [6:32] is under the rubble. Of course, you know, there is the possibility [6:38] to retreat them, but under the supervision of the agency. If one day we come to the conclusion [6:46] to do that, it would be under the supervision of the agency. But for the time being, we [6:50] have no program. We have no plan to recover them from under the rubble. [6:55] Am I understanding you here? Because I know that you said 48 hours before the U.S. strikes [7:01] happened, you had personally offered to President Trump's negotiators to take that 440 kilos. [7:07] Yes. [7:08] Amount of 60% enriched material and to dilute it. You said Iran was ready to give [7:14] that material away. This was in the deal that was also presented to Vice President Vance [7:20] by Oman. Today, is Iran still willing to let go of that enriched uranium? [7:26] Well, that was one of the elements of a deal that we were negotiating with our, you know, [7:35] American interlocutors. [7:37] That element was... [7:39] . [7:40] It dealt with the question of Iran's 60% enriched material. And I said, I offered, [7:45] actually, that we are ready to dilute those enriched material or down blend them, as they [7:51] say, into lower percentage. So that was a, you know, a big offer, a big concession in [7:58] order to prove that Iran has never wanted a pillow weapons and would never want them. [8:04] Yeah. So... [8:05] Are you willing to give that up now? [8:07] Well. [8:08] there is nothing on the table right now. Everything depends on the future. [8:14] If, any time in the future, we decide to enter into negotiation with the U.S. or other [8:20] interlocutors, we may decide what to put on the table. For the time being, nothing is on the table. [8:28] LISA DESJARDINS There are at least four Americans being held at Evin prison that we know of, [8:33] including a journalist, Reza Valhazadeh, and Kamran Hekmati, a 61-year-old man. [8:39] What is the status of those Americans? Are they safe? [8:42] REZA VALHAZADEH Well, if the U.S. and Israel do not attack our prisons, I guess they are safe. [8:51] LISA DESJARDINS Foreign Minister, we are running out of time, and I can see the [8:56] Internet is going in and out here. I just do want to point out, you're speaking to us via Zoom. [9:01] The Iranian people don't have open Internet access, but you do. Why? [9:08] REZA VALHAZADEH [9:09] Well, because I'm the voice of Iranians, and I have to defend their right. So this is why [9:17] I have access to Internet, to just, you know, have our voice being heard by the international [9:27] community. But Internet is closed because of the security reasons, because we are under attack, [9:34] we are under aggression, and we have to do everything to protect our people. In [9:38] any country, there are, you know, urgent measures taken for the sake of war. [9:44] LISA DESJARDINS Minister, I'm glad the uplink worked to talk to you right now. [9:50] We thank you for your time this morning. [9:53] Face the Nation will be back in a minute. Stay with us.