Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: Iran is receiving ‘military cooperation’ from Russia and China, foreign minister says

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
Photo:  Iranian Foreign Ministry

Iran is receiving “military cooperation” from Russia and China, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an exclusive interview with MS NOW. He also accused the United Arab Emirates of allowing the U.S. to launch attacks on Iran from its territory

Araghchi said Iran has no intention of fully opening the Strait of Hormuz, a tactic that has sent global oil prices soaring. And he downplayed the impact of a recent U.S attack on military installations on Kharg Island, through which 90% of Iran’s oil exports flow.

He vowed that Iran will attack oil facilities across the Persian Gulf if the U.S. targets Iran’s oil infrastructure.

“I think our armed forces have already answered that they would retaliate if our oil and energy infrastructure are attacked,” Araghchi said. “And they will attack any energy infrastructure in the region, which belongs to an American company or an American company is a shareholder. So the reaction would be clear.”

Araghchi called Russia and China Iran’s “strategic partners” and said his country was receiving “military cooperation” from the two U.S. adversaries but declined to elaborate.

“That includes military cooperation,” he said. “I’m not going into the into any details of that, a good cooperation with these countries, politically, economically, even militarily.”

He also defended Iran’s attacks on its neighbors across the Persian Gulf, which the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have said included Iranian strikes on civilian areas. Araghchi accused the United Arab Emirates of allowing the U.S. to launch attacks on Iran from Dubai, Ras Al-Khaimah and other densely populated areas.

“It is clear that they are fired from U.A.E.,” he said, adding it was “dangerous” to “use highly populated areas to launch, you know, rockets against us.”

The United States and Israel are using Lucas drones, which are similar to Iran's Shahed drones, against Arab states

The United States and Israel are using Lucas drones, which are similar to Iran's Shahed drones, to strike countries in the Middle East in order to increase tension between Tehran and its neighbors. This was announced on March 15 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic, Abbas Araqchi.

"The Americans have created a drone similar to our Shahed drone called Lucas, and it is identical to it, and many targets in Arab countries are being attacked through it," he said in an interview with Al Arab Al Jadeed newspaper.

Araqchi stressed that such tactics are used by the United States and Israel to spoil relations between Iran and other countries in the Middle East.

On March 13, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll announced that the United States had sent 10,000 Merops interceptor drones to the Middle East

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs