Abbas Araghchi Says US-Israeli Airstrike Killed Ali Khamenei and His Secretary

Surviving the blasts

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi recounted surviving a US-Israeli airstrike that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, describing how “The building was shaken by three successive explosions” and how he “grabbed Ali Asghar Hejazi's hand” to escape through rubble. Araghchi said he was with Ali Asghar Hejazi, then deputy chief of the Supreme Leader's office, when multiple explosions struck the building, and he told Iranian journalist Javad Moghoui that a passerby took him to a hospital after the attack. In a separate account, Euronews reported that Araghchi described the third blast striking the building directly, causing “large portions of it to collapse,” and that he and Hijazi got out amid “wooden beams and rubble” as calls for help echoed.

Araghchi also said Iranian officials remained isolated from one another for three days, trying to determine who was still alive and who had died, after the explosions cut the gathering short. Euronews added that Araghchi said Khaji survived the blast while his secretary was killed instantly, and that security forces hurriedly ferried him to the Foreign Ministry in a small civilian car after his official car was hit.

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Security breach controversy

Araghchi’s testimony included claims about security vulnerabilities, with i24NEWS saying he argued Israel and the United States had detailed intelligence on the locations of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials. In the same i24NEWS account, Araghchi said “For three days we were cut off from everything trying to find out who was alive and who had been martyred,” and he maintained that the operation aimed to disrupt Iran’s command structure but “ultimately failed.” Iran International reported that IRGC media rebuked Araghchi, saying that confirming information or disclosing details about the day of the leader's martyrdom, or talking about a lack of communication between the foreign minister and the country’s leader, “are not matters that can be disclosed easily.”

Iran International also quoted Araghchi’s position that he had not met or communicated with Mojtaba Khamenei, and it said he described the bombing of the late Leader Ali Khamenei's residence as resulting from a “security breach,” while also saying that this breach still exists. The same Iran International report said a close-to-state TV analyst, Mostafa Khoshjashm, criticized the interview as “superficial” and “not exceeding the level of taxi-driver chatter,” and it added that political analyst Mohammad Mohajeri supported Araghchi’s statements about the existence of a “security breach” within the Iranian system.

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Aftermath and regional stakes

Araghchi told Javad Moghoui that Iran had offered the US a deal on its nuclear programme in the final round of talks in Geneva, but that Oman’s foreign minister Badr Albusaidi told him the following day that the mood in Washington had become more bellicose.

The Guardian reported that Araghchi said Israel had intelligence about meetings at the ministry of intelligence, the strategic council on foreign policy, and the defence council, and he argued this “may point to a security gap that probably still exists. This needs to be fixed.”

Euronews said Araghchi described emergency plans for an attack on the leadership, including a scenario code-named “Code 110,” linked to Article 110 of the Iranian Constitution, and he said officials left their official offices after the strikes and adopted alternative locations.

Araghchi also said Iran told neighbouring governments it would respond to any attack by hitting American bases in the region and Israeli facilities, and he threatened to close the Hormuz Strait and to block oil exports from the region if its own oil facilities were attacked.

The Guardian added that Araghchi said Iran had warned neighbouring governments that any attack would be met with retaliation, and he described the codename for such a scenario as “Code 110”, while also saying the US decided to attack because it believed Iran’s government had been weakened abroad and at home.

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