Iran’s FM says Israel, US would be ‘really crazy’ to target Iranian nuclear sites

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warns Israel and the US against attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, in an interview with Sky News aired this morning.

“We have made it clear that any attack to our nuclear facilities would be faced with an immediate and decisive response,” Araghchi says, but expresses doubt that Israel and the US will actually “do that crazy thing.”

Some in Israel have hoped that US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House earlier this month would lead to the US backing an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, or even carrying out such an attack itself.

Trump has signaled, however, that he hopes to address Tehran’s nuclear program diplomatically, rather than militarily, saying that it “would be really nice” to work things out without military force.

Attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities would turn the Middle East “into a very bad disaster,” Araghchi says, reiterating the assertion that Israel and the US would be “really crazy” to try it.

The Iranian diplomat also touches briefly on the heavy blows dealt to proxy groups Hamas and Hezbollah amid their wars with Israel.

“Hamas and Hezbollah have been damaged,” he acknowledges. “But at the same time, they are rebuilding themselves… This is a school of thought, this is an idea, this is a cause, this is an ideal that will always be there.”