As U.S. and Israeli forces continue their joint military operation in Iran, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told MS NOW’s Ana Cabrera that his country is in a “defensive mode” and that its leaders would do “whatever we can to preserve our rights and to protect our people.”
“Our message to everybody who is listening is that we are defending ourselves,” Takht-Ravanchi said Wednesday morning, adding: “A war has been imposed on us, and we have every right to defend ourselves.”
The deputy foreign minister told Cabrera that this “war of aggression” was not the Iranian government’s choice. “It is the war of choice for the U.S. government and the Israeli regime, and we will defend ourselves to the best of our ability,” he said.
“Our message to everybody who is listening is that we are defending ourselves,” Takht-Ravanchi told MS NOW.
When asked about communication between the U.S. and Iran since the strikes began, Takht-Ravanchi said his country hasn’t “heard anything” and has “not conveyed any message to Americans.”
“We are in a defensive mode, and what we are concentrating on is to protect ourselves, to defend ourselves,” he added. “So no message is being sent, and we haven’t received any message by America or by anybody else.”
Takht-Ravanchi also responded to special envoy Steve Witkoff’s claims that the Iranian regime had acted in bad faith during negotiations and bragged about its nuclear capabilities.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Witkoff said Iranian negotiators “were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
The Iranian deputy foreign minister rebutted Witkoff’s account and accused the special envoy of “misrepresenting” the exchange.
“We were not bragging — we were just saying that this is the result of our scientific achievements,” he said, adding that Iran was willing “to get rid of this” provided that they would “get something good in return.”
Takht-Ravanchi said his country was not “the party to renege on its promise” after what he called a “good meeting” between mediators in Geneva last week.
“Mr. Witkoff has to come to your show and tell the audience why they have changed their mind, why they were satisfied with the results of negotiations in Geneva, and then, in less than 48 hours, they changed course and resorted to violence and acts of aggression,” he said.
When Cabrera pressed Takht-Ravanchi about whether Iran had the capability to produce 11 nuclear bombs, he said it was “no secret” that his country possessed “60% enriched uranium,” which “can deliver around 10, 10.2 nuclear bombs.” But he added that Iranian officials “did not say that we are going to use them.”
“The point that Mr. Witkoff was trying to convey was that Iran was bragging about this nuclear material that is in our possession and that was the reason that the talks didn’t succeed — that was not true at all,” he said.
Takht-Ravanchi also spoke about the future of leadership in Iran, after the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed Sunday in strikes by U.S. and Israel.
“A new body has been established, comprised of three people, so they will be in charge until the new leader is elected,” he said, adding that the group was “working to prepare the ground for the election of the new leader.”
Cabrera quickly questioned Takht-Ravanchi’s promise of an “election,” asking, “Will the people of Iran have any say on who leads this country next? Or is that predetermined?”
“No, it’s not predetermined,” the deputy foreign minister responded.
“The people have already chosen that body who is going to elect the supreme leader,” he said, calling the process “very transparent” and “democratic.”
You can watch Takht-Ravanchi’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”