Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has denounced allegations surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program as “the century’s biggest lie.”
He says the fabricated narrative has been used by the United States and its allies as a pretext for decades of pressure and economic restrictions against the Iranian nation.
“Perhaps no lie as big as the ‘Iranian threat’ has been fabricated in the world over the past 70 or 80 years,” Baghaei said during an event titled “Confronting the United States: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” in Tehran on Tuesday.
Despite finding no evidence of even the slightest diversion in Iran’s nuclear program toward non-peaceful objectives, he said, the United States and its allies had refused to abandon the allegations.
Baghaei said repeating this narrative had become an inseparable part of US foreign policy and a reflection of Israel’s demands.
Iran not closing the door to diplomacy
Baghaei said understanding the roots of the confrontation with the United States should not be interpreted as ruling out diplomacy or political engagement.
“Understanding the depth of this confrontation does not mean that we should block the path of engagement and political solutions or claim that all diplomatic activity must be abandoned,” he said.
“As a diplomat, I emphasize that diplomacy is an effective and essential tool. Alongside defensive capabilities, it must be wisely employed to safeguard national interests.”
He said, “Diplomacy complements the battlefield and, within this framework, serves as an instrument for defending national interests.”
Baghaei said the confrontation between Iran and the United States was not a temporary dispute and that the Iranian nation had neither caused nor initiated it.
“From the very beginning, Iranians approached the United States with complete goodwill, even seeking to establish a balance against British colonial influence. In practice, however, they were met with Washington’s hostility.”
US hostility goes beyond Iran’s political system
Baghaei said repeated historical experiences had led the Iranian people to conclude that Washington’s fundamental problem with Iran went beyond the political system.
“Their problem is with Iran itself: its geography, Iran as an idea, as a concept, and as a historical entity with exceptional material, human and spiritual capacities.”
Iran’s resistance over the past eight months, he said, was a continuation of a much longer struggle spanning five to eight decades.
“The Americans themselves initiated this confrontation in the 1950s with the August 19, 1953 coup against us, and they have spared no effort to weaken this country.”
Drawing parallels between Western pressure campaigns across different periods, he said the current sanctions and pressure followed the same pattern established by Britain in the 1950s, before Iran’s nationalization of its oil industry.
“At that time, they also referred Iran’s case to the UN Security Council and attempted to portray the nationalization of the oil industry as a threat to international peace and security. Decades later, they repeated exactly the same scenario against Iran's peaceful nuclear program.”
Baghaei said the ultimate objective of these campaigns was to prevent Iran from strengthening its capabilities and attaining its rightful civilizational position in the international order.
Iran’s resolve cannot be broken
Iran’s enemies have failed to contain the country and would not succeed in the future, given its accumulated strength and experience, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
“Over the past eight months, Iran’s historical power and civilizational assets have once again been reaffirmed. The Iranian nation relied on its spiritual and historical depth and its capabilities to resist, and it delivered the necessary response.”
Baghaei described national solidarity as a valuable asset that would ensure Iran’s continued path toward dignity, progress and strength.
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