"They Seem to Be Adrift": Iranian Foreign Minister Comments on U.S. and Israeli War Plans

The United States and Israel have failed in their war plans against Iran, and a degree of chaos is evident in both their actions and public statements, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi declared Monday.

"They tried to achieve some of their objectives, but they failed. They thought that in two or three days they could change the government and achieve a quick and clean victory, but they did not succeed. Therefore, in my opinion, their Plan A failed and now they are trying other plans, but all of them have also failed," the foreign minister told PBS News.

Araghchi said he does not believe Washington or Tel Aviv "have a realistic end game in mind for this war, because in their words and actions there is a certain chaos."

"They practically struck blindly," he said, noting that the targets hit by the two countries include hospitals, schools, and Iran's energy infrastructure. "As a result, you can now see the effect on oil prices worldwide," he added.

"Therefore, I see no logical objective in their actions. At first they failed to achieve their goals and now, after ten days, it seems they are adrift," the minister concluded.

Conflicting Justifications

While the U.S. administration currently justifies its strikes against the Islamic Republic on the grounds of destroying Iran's missile program and its overall military capacity, President Donald Trump initially framed the objective as dismantling Iran's nuclear enrichment capability. Under that premise, several rounds of indirect talks were held between representatives of Washington and Tehran — talks that ended without meaningful progress and were ultimately cut short by the military offensive.

Among the additional arguments put forward to justify the strikes was the alleged existence or active development of nuclear weapons by Iran. However, both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and U.S. intelligence assessments have maintained that Iran was not pursuing the production of such weapons.

Background: The Assault on Iran

On the morning of Saturday, February 28, Israel and the United States launched a joint attack with the stated objective of "eliminating the threats" posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The strikes resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior military officials. In the wake of his death, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was designated as his successor.

In response, Tehran launched multiple waves of ballistic missiles and drones against Israel and U.S. military bases across the Middle East. According to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country carried out more than 30 waves of strikes against at least 27 U.S.-deployed military bases in the region, as well as against Israeli military installations in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country.