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Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the United States has been dragged into war against Iran by Israel due to what he called the “Greater Israel illusion.”
Khatibzadeh strongly criticized attacks carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran during remarks at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 conference in New Delhi, India.
He said Washington had been drawn into the conflict because of Israel’s regional ambitions.
“The United States has been dragged into this war by Israel because of the ‘Greater Israel illusion,’” Khatibzadeh said, adding that countries across the region, from Saudi Arabia to Oman, are aware of the situation.
Questioning the presence of American military systems in the Gulf, Khatibzadeh said: “Are the U.S. radars in the Persian Gulf there to catch fish in the Persian Gulf?”
He added that the Iranian military aims to end the American military presence in the region.
Khatibzadeh said Iran considers the conflict an existential struggle, arguing that both Iran and international law are under attack.
“The Americans assassinated the president of another state. If this is the new norm, then no country on earth can establish normal diplomatic relations with others,” he said.
“This is a resistance for principles of international law, for ethics, for morality,” Khatibzadeh added.
He also criticized remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting he could be involved in determining Iran’s future leadership.
“Trump wants change in Iran’s leadership and says, ‘I should also have a say in this.’ Yet he cannot even appoint a mayor in New York,” Khatibzadeh said.
Israel and the United States launched military strikes on Iran starting Feb. 28 while negotiations between the Tehran and Washington administrations were ongoing.
Iran responded with attacks targeting selected sites in several regional countries hosting U.S. military assets, primarily Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Israel.
Several senior Iranian officials were reported killed in the U.S.-Israeli attacks, including Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said that 926 people have been killed in the U.S.-Israel strikes.
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