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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Channel 4's Cathy Newman in a heated interview on March 19 that Iran is "defending itself" against what he described as an illegal act of aggression.
Baqaei refused to outline how the war could end, defended strikes on Gulf states' energy infrastructure as targeting U.S.-linked assets, and insisted that new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "alive and well" and in Iran, while declining to say he had personally seen or spoken to him.
Pressed repeatedly on why Iran is striking Qatar's gas fields and Gulf neighbors, Baqaei maintained that Iran is only targeting assets belonging to or used by the United States.
"We are not attacking any country. We are exercising our right to self-defense. Those military bases, those assets, those installations that are being used by Americans to conduct their military aggressions against Iran are legitimate targets under international law," he said.
When Newman challenged him directly, "a gas field is not a military asset, is it?" Baqaei responded.
"The gas field is shared, and we have made it clear that if Iran's infrastructure is attacked, we would have to retaliate in self-defense against any infrastructure that is shared by the United States. That's part of the war game they have imposed on Iran."
He noted that the United States and Israel attacked Iran's South Pars gas field first.
"It was Israel(is) and Americans that attacked our gas field, our energy infrastructure in the first place. What we are doing is fighting back in accordance with our right of self-defense," Baqaei said.
Baqaei denied that the Strait of Hormuz is fully shut, saying, "The strait of Hormuz is not shut down. We have to exercise control over the shipping line because this strait is being abused by the United States and its allies to harm Iran's national interest."
When asked directly whether Iran had mined the strait, Baqaei said: "I'm not going to talk about military tactics of the Iranian armed forces."
On the economic damage to Iran from the Hormuz paralysis, Baqaei said: "We do not want to harm the security and stability of the region. But what else should we do? Do you expect Iran to let the warring parties, the aggressors' ships and vessels, pass the strait?"
Asked whether the U.K. deploying autonomous mine-hunting drones to the strait would make British assets legitimate targets, Baqaei said, "Can you imagine that any country taking sides actively with the aggressors would be regarded as neutral? No. In any country, the international responsibility of states under international law requires that they try to avoid escalation, not contribute to this aggression."
He added that European countries, including the UK, know the war is "an illegal war imposed on Iranians," saying it "is strictly speaking an act of aggression that is prohibited under the United Nations charter."
Asked whether Iran is open to negotiations to end the war, Baqaei stated, "Talk to whom? Talk to those who do not believe in diplomacy. They have proven to everyone."
He said Iran was in active negotiations when the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, and that diplomacy was betrayed a second time.
"We were supposed to meet in Vienna for technical discussions. They attacked Iran, and this was the second time in a matter of nine months that they betrayed diplomacy," he noted.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the Omani foreign minister had confirmed that negotiations were going well before the attack. "I refer you to the mediator, the foreign minister of Oman, who said there was significant progress in the negotiations."
When Newman asked repeatedly how the war would end, Baqaei refused to answer in terms of concessions.
"You have to direct this question to those who started this war, not to a nation that is the victim of aggression. While Iran is under constant attack, while Tehran is being bombed by the United States and Israel, we have to focus on defending our people against this barbaric act of aggression," Baqaei said.
Newman pressed Baqaei on whether Iran is effectively declaring a forever war with America. Baqaei rejected the framing, stating, "It is not Iran that has been waging forever wars." This is the United States and Israel that have turned our region into a scene of everlasting wars. Iran has been in the region for millennia."
"We do not welcome war. We didn't start this war. But we have to fight ferociously because this is an unjust war imposed against Iran," he added.
He dismissed the suggestion that renouncing uranium enrichment could be a price worth paying for peace, saying, "It was not a matter of enrichment. We were talking together. They said they obliterated Iran's nuclear program in June. So it means they are trying to find every excuse to further this whimsical war. They do not know what is the purpose of this war other than being dragged by Israel into this war."
On Iran's nuclear program, Baqaei said: "Iran's nuclear program is absolutely peaceful. It has been certified many times by the IAEA that Iran's nuclear program was safeguarded and was completely peaceful. Show me just one single piece of evidence that Iran's nuclear program is deviating from peaceful purposes."
Asked whether Mojtaba Khamenei has left Iran or is receiving medical treatment in Moscow, Baqaei said, "I'm so sorry that you are trapped by this propaganda. Iranian leaders are proud enough to stay in their home and fight."
When pressed, "So will you state as fact that the new Supreme Leader is alive and well and in Iran?", Baqaei answered: "Of course."
Asked whether he had personally seen or spoken to Khamenei, Baqaei said: "I'm not supposed to see him."
When Newman noted that no one had seen him, Baqaei said, "You can have your own judgment, but I said what I needed to say."
On the killing of thousands of protesters by Iranian security forces, Baqaei stated that the January protests were peaceful demonstrations that were turned violent by U.S. and Israeli infiltrators.
"3,170 persons were killed. 2,400 of them were regarded as martyrs because they were either police officers or the protesters," he said, attributing the violence to foreign interference.
He also raised Iran's own grievance: "I wonder why you don't ask any question about 175 innocent kids that were killed in the first hours of the United States-Israel attack against the city of Minab."
He closed his final answer by reiterating Iran's position: "We are defending ourselves against this barbaric act of aggression by two nuclear-armed regimes. You have to direct this question to those who are the cause of this calamity for the whole region and for the international community."
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