Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that Tehran is open to any initiative aimed at bringing a complete end to the ongoing war in the Middle East. According to Iranian state media, Araghchi emphasised that diplomatic contacts with neighbouring countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman are continuing as part of efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region.
Iran also denied accusations that it had targeted civilian or residential areas in neighbouring Arab countries during the conflict with Israel and the United States. Iranian officials suggested that Israel could be responsible for some of the recent attacks. Araghchi has indicated that Tehran is prepared to establish a joint investigative panel with regional nations to examine incidents involving strikes on sensitive locations, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.
Earlier, Iranian authorities had alleged that Israel and the United States were deploying rebranded versions of Iranian-made Shahed drones, including models resembling the Shahed-136, in attacks on civilian infrastructure across the region. Tehran claimed that such actions were intended to falsely implicate the Islamic Republic. Iran has also accused Israel of orchestrating drone strikes in Azerbaijan in an attempt to damage Iran’s diplomatic relations with neighbouring states.
Similarly, Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, rejected claims of Iranian involvement in an alleged strike on the United States embassy in Riyadh. Iranian officials argued that certain Western media outlets and what they described as hostile entities had wrongly attributed recent attacks in countries such as Turkey, Kuwait and Iraq to Iranian forces.
Earlier, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that Iran assumes responsibility for any location it deliberately targets and issues official statements in such cases. An IRGC spokesperson said that the country’s military operations are directed only at the interests and strategic positions of the United States and Israel, Press TV reported.
These developments come amid a series of drone strikes on residential neighbourhoods and diplomatic facilities in West Asia. Tehran has consistently maintained that it does not attack non-military targets.
Iran Israel US War
Now in its sixteenth day, the war between Iran, the United States and Israel has resulted in widespread destruction across the region. Iranian state media and the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs report that more than 2,000 people have been killed, most of them in Iran, including over 1,300 civilians.
The war began on February 28 following a reported joint strike by Israel and the United States on Iranian territory. Tehran claims that the attack resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with several senior officials. In response, Iran launched missile and drone strikes against US military installations and strategic sites across West Asia, including locations in Iraq, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Iranian authorities later signalled that they would suspend strikes on neighbouring countries provided that their territories were not used for further attacks against Iran.
