Iranian spokesperson says country has ‘no other choice’ but to fight back : NPR

EMILY KWONG, HOST:

The Iranian government responds to the United States and Israel with its own strikes and says it intends to continue the fight.

ESMAIL BAGHAEI: This is an unjust war imposed on our nation, and we have no choice but to fight against this injustice.

KWONG: Esmail Baghaei is the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. He says these military actions are unjustified and unprovoked, and emphasizes that they took place as the United States and Iran were making progress in diplomatic negotiations on nuclear issues. We contacted him earlier today in Tehran. This is where he was on Saturday morning when the attacks began.

BAGHAEI: I was at my workplace, and you see, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located south of the capital, very close to the Supreme Leader’s compound, where was attacked by more than 28 missiles. And the compound is now razed to the ground. Many people lost their lives, including our supreme leader, and he was assassinated. He was not just a political leader. He was also a high-ranking religious jurist with tens of millions of followers, even outside Iran, throughout the region.

KWONG: Who is running the country now?

BAGHAEI: Currently, according to our constitution, we have an interim council consisting of the head of the judiciary, the president and a representative of the expert council. The expert council is expected to elect the new supreme leader. We hope this will be done in the coming days. I hope.

KWONG: Iran saw widespread protests earlier this year and the government killed thousands of its own citizens. Do the leaders now have the support of the Iranian people?

BAGHAEI: Every society has such protests. These protests began peacefully. We respect peaceful assemblies. The first 10 days of these peaceful protests were calm. But from January 8 to 10, the situation changed dramatically when armed men appeared among the peaceful demonstration and began shooting at demonstrators and police officers. More than 200 police and security personnel have been killed. Some of them were beheaded and burned alive. Three thousand one hundred and seventy people were killed and we called more than 2,400 of them martyrs.

KWONG: Yes. I mean, some estimates say the death toll is significantly higher, I mean, tens of thousands of people.

BAGHAEI: That’s not the case. I’m telling you, that’s not really the case. This is part of the disinformation campaign because if you remember, I mean, the first days of these protests…

KWONG: And…

BAGHAEI: …There was a message from the president of the United States saying that if the number of murders increased, then I would come and help people. It was the motivation, the…

KWONG: The…

BAGHAEI: …Reason why some armed men started killing demonstrators…

KWONG: The calls…

BAGHAEI: …In order, simply, to increase the number.

KWONG: Yes. This is not the case – the calls in the streets, however, were for regime change, and now you have President Trump calling for regime…

BAGHAEI: It wasn’t.

KWONG: …Change.

BAGHAEI: It wasn’t. This was not the case. It was because of economic difficulties. Most of these economic problems come from American sanctions. We have been subjected to these cruel sanctions for five years.

KWONG: The sanctions have been very aggressive on the part of the United States, of course. But I want to know, do you think the Iranian leadership can hold on despite the combination of President Trump calling for regime change, and Israel and some Iranians opposing the regime?

BAGHAEI: Can you accept in your country that a foreign country calls for a change in your system of governance? And moreover, the Iranians have shown that in the face of foreign aggression, of foreign domination, they will appear united and will fight for their freedom, for their independence, for their dignity and their sovereignty.

KWONG: Let’s talk about international law because you petitioned the United Nations saying the U.S. and Israeli strikes were a violation, and your response was self-defense. So how do you hope the international community will respond to what is happening to Iran?

BAGHAEI: We are one of the founding members of the United Nations in 1945. And the main principle of the United Nations is to save future generations from the scourge of war. It is therefore our fundamental right to call on the UN Security Council to fulfill its responsibility under Article 39 of the UN Charter, because what the United States and Israel are doing clearly constitutes an act of aggression against Iran. We understand that at the international level, unfortunately, real politics works. But we hope – and I think this is our legitimate expectation – to see help from the United Nations system because otherwise, we cannot talk about collective security. We cannot talk about international law. We cannot speak of a normative system.

The first missiles they fired at Iran hit a primary school in the town of Minab, located in southern Iran. So far, more than 158 innocent little girls have been killed. Some of them are still under the rubble. Today they hit hospitals in central Tehran. This is an unprovoked and unjustified act of aggression.

KWONG: That must be incredibly difficult to bear. Violence is increasing. We have just learned that at least three Americans were killed in these hostilities. What is your reaction to this news?

BAGHAEI: I have said repeatedly that we have no problem with the American people. And we think this is not their war. This is the war favored by the American administration. We were talking with Americans. We were in the middle of negotiations, and if – I refer you to the words of the Omani mediator. On Friday, he interviewed one of America’s leading media outlets. He said the deal was within reach. You know that we were supposed to meet with the American delegation yesterday in Vienna to discuss the technical details of a possible agreement. So we did not start this war.

KWONG: This is Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei. Thank you very much for talking to us.

BAGHAEI: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

KWONG: And we should note that after this conversation, a senior White House official told NPR that President Trump had said that potential new leaders in Iran had indicated they were interested in talking. This White House official also said that US attacks would continue unabated for the time being.

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