Araghchi made his remarks in an interview on Wednesday with China’s Global Television Network (CGTN) in Tianjin, China, attending the Shanghai Cooperation Agency (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Tuesday.
He pointed out that the 12-day war launched by the Israeli regime against Iran was not just a “conflict” but an unprovoked military attack.
“It’s not a conflict. It’s an act of aggression, an act of unattacked attack by Israel on the Islamic Republic,” he added.
“We had no choice but to exercise our right to self-defense, so we defended the country. We defended it in a very courageous way, sought an invader to stop the attack and an unconditional ceasefire that was accepted by us,” the top Iranian diplomat emphasized.
He is skeptical of Israel’s intention to truly respect the ceasefire, which he characterized as “fragile.”
“Of course, a ceasefire is fragile and the reason is clear. The administration has such a bad record of it that a ceasefire by the (Israel) government is unreliable,” he explained.
“If the ceasefire is broken, we are very careful and ready, but this is not our wish. It was not a wish from the beginning. We did not want this war, but we were not ready,” he emphasized.
The Foreign Minister said Iran does not want to continue the war, but said that if the aggressive resume was made, the country’s full preparations have been reaffirmed.
MNA/