Iranian Foreign Minister Recounts Survival of US-Israeli Strike on Leadership Compound

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalist Javad Mogouyi that he was pulled from the debris of a leadership compound after a joint US-Israeli airstrike on the first day of the conflict that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He said the strike was guided by precise intelligence on the whereabouts of senior officials, including Khamenei and his deputy chief of staff Ali Asghar Hijazi, who escaped with him despite three successive explosions that devastated the building.

Araghchi recounted that after the blast he was taken to the foreign ministry by a passerby, as his official car had been damaged. He said the attack left the compound in ruins, with water pouring from the ceiling and parts of the structure collapsing around them. "For three days we were cut off from everything trying to find out who was alive and who had been martyred," he said.

He affirmed that Iran had anticipated such a scenario and had a contingency plan, known as “Code 110,” to close the Strait of Hormuz if the supreme leader were targeted. Araghchi also said the United States decided to strike because it perceived Iran’s regional influence and domestic unrest as weakening the government.

Regarding the broader conflict, Araghchi noted that Iran had warned neighboring states that any attack would be met with retaliation against regional targets, including nuclear and oil facilities. He said Turkey had rejected a U.S. proposal to encourage a Kurdish uprising in Iran, and that Iran was seeking to exploit divergences between the United States and Israel.

He added that after Israel’s 12-day bombing campaign in 2025, Iran reduced the time needed to reactivate missile bases from several hours to under an hour, enhancing its response capability. "We do not fight unless the cost of not fighting is higher than the cost of fighting," he concluded.