Iran foreign minister says US talks were held under bombing threat

Iran's foreign minister has said negotiations with United States envoys took place while Tehran believed it could be bombed at any moment. Abbas Araghchi said he raised that concern directly with US envoy Steve Witkoff during talks, describing the atmosphere as one of direct military threat rather than normal diplomacy. His remarks were made in a wide-ranging interview with Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency.

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Araghchi said he asked Witkoff whether he had ever attended a meeting where there was a chance of being bombed at any moment. He also said he had spoken with Witkoff and Jared Kushner in February. In the interview, he argued that Iran was not intimidated by American pressure and said the delegation was operating under conditions of acute insecurity.

The foreign minister linked those comments to the US-Israeli strike on a leadership compound in Tehran on February 28, which he said killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other family members. He said the attack was carried out through a security vulnerability and added that the same vulnerability still exists. Araghchi also said that from the first day, plans were made to close the Strait of Hormuz if the supreme leader was targeted.

The remarks matter because they present the talks not as a routine diplomatic exchange but as negotiations taking place alongside the threat of military escalation. They also underline how fragile Iran-US contacts remain, with both sides still operating against the backdrop of conflict, deterrence and the risk of further strikes. For Tehran, the issue is not only the talks themselves but the security environment surrounding them.

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Araghchi's account also points to the continuing political and military significance of the February 28 strike, which he said marked the start of the war. By saying the vulnerability behind that attack remains unresolved, he suggested that Iran still sees a live security gap affecting its leadership and decision-making. His comments about the Strait of Hormuz also highlight the potential regional consequences if the confrontation widens.

It is not clear from the interview what, if any, immediate follow-up there will be from Washington or from the other figures named by Araghchi. The remarks were retrospective, but they may shape how future contacts are framed and how Iran describes the risks around any renewed diplomacy. What remains to be seen is whether either side responds publicly to his account or whether the security concerns he described lead to any change in posture.

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