Top Official: Iran Ready for a Long War with US, No More Diplomacy

Monday, 09 March 2026 7:46 PM

Head of Iran's Strategic Council of Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi

The head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations says the United States has proved that it does not know the language of diplomacy, and that Tehran is ready for a long war.

“I no longer see any room for diplomacy. Because [US President] Donald Trump deceives others and does not keep his promises, and we experienced this in two rounds of negotiations. While we were negotiating, they attacked us,” Kamal Kharrazi said in an interview with CNN.

However, he noted that the economic pressure could increase to the extent that other countries take action to guarantee the end of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

"The Persian Gulf Arab countries and other countries must put pressure on the United States to end the war,” Kharrazi stated.

Noting that this war has created a lot of economic pressure on others, in terms of inflation and energy shortages, he said: "If it continues, this pressure will increase, and thereby others will have no choice but to intervene."

The US and Israel started a fresh round of aerial aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.

The attacks led to the martyrdom of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The aggression was launched as Tehran and Washington had held three rounds of indirect negotiations in the Omani capital of Muscat and the Swiss city of Geneva and planned to open technical talks in Vienna, Austria.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missiles and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases in regional countries.