Iran will demand assurances that all attacks will stop and reparations are made for war damages before agreeing to end the conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Qatari-owned Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Sunday.
Araghchi emphasized that he was not referring to a short-term ceasefire - he was demanding an end to US and Israeli strikes on Iran indefinitely. "We will end this war when we are certain it will not be repeated, and this requires a decisive and final end to the war," he said.
According to Araghchi, the previous ceasefire allowed the US and Israel to regroup in order to attack the regime again. "This scenario cannot be repeated," he warned, asserting that "reparations will be paid" following the conclusion of the war.
Araghchi also mentioned that reparations must be paid to end the war, something that the Islamic Republic President Masoud Pezeshkian had already said last week in a post on X/Twitter.
"The only way to end this war is recognizing Iran’s legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression," Pezeshkian wrote in that instance.
Araghchi: 'War must end and not be repeated'
According to Araghchi, the Iranian demands to end the war are not conditions but "what the reason dictates." He explained that from Iran’s perspective, “any idea worth considering must include sufficient guarantees to end the war completely.”
Additionally, he explained that he has “no specific predictions” for when the war may end. “What I do know,” he said, “is that this war and our defense will continue wherever and whenever necessary.”
Beyond ending the war, Araghchi asserted that “even continuing the war in the current situation has become a dilemma” for the US and Israel. “They failed to realize that the Islamic Republic is not based on a single person or a few individuals, but rather on a strong and robust structure,” he asserted.
“I believe they have trapped themselves in a situation from which they see no escape,” he shared.
Iran is even prepared for further escalation in hostilities with the US, with the regime “anticipating the entry of American ground forces into our territory,” Araghchi stated, adding that the IRGC will “know how to confront them” in case of a US ground invasion.
Regime enjoying complete stability, Araghchi claims
When probed on the possibility of the Islamic regime collapsing and US-Israeli hopes of an uprising among the Iranian people, Araghchi claimed that the regime “enjoys complete stability and strength.”
Despite a large number of the regime’s leadership and military personnel being killed in the war so far, he stated that there has been “no upheaval because the system is established and cohesive.”
“I believe that no one has any hope left for change, and there is no longer any talk of sweeping reforms in Iran,” he stated, alleging that “the secret to the strength of the Islamic Republic of Iran lies in its supportive and ever-present people.”
Araghchi additionally claimed that Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is “in excellent health, in control of the situation, and present at his post” despite rumors that he was injured.
On Friday, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a speech in which he stated that Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured.”
“He's scared, he's injured, he's on the run, and he lacks legitimacy," Hegseth said of the Supreme Leader.
Still, Araghchi stated that “everything is under control.”
“We have principles we cannot compromise, the most important of which is our independence,” he said. “While others might accept relinquishing our ambitions, goals, and achievements simply because they desire it,” the Iranian regime will not, Araghchi asserted.