Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi admitted in a Thursday interview with the Al Mayadeen television network that the joint US-Israeli Operation Epic Fury pinpoint airstrikes that took out multiple senior leaders — including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — weren’t just deadly, they were amazingly accurate.
This ought to be keeping every Iranian leader lying awake at night:
The account, revealed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a new television interview, also highlights what analysts describe as a defining feature of President Donald Trump's national security doctrine: using a decapitation strike against a hostile regime while simultaneously creating an off-ramp to end the conflict.
"Well, the building we were sitting in was targeted, but the wing we were in remained intact while the other wing of the building was destroyed," Araghchi said in an interview that aired June 4 on the Lebanon-based, Hezbollah-backed Al Mayadeen television network.
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi says,
— WAR (@warsurv) June 5, 2026
he survived strikes that targeted Ali Khamenei’s office, recalling that he was inside the building when it was hit and later emerged from the rubble.
He also referenced Israeli footage showing around 50 fighter jets striking Khamenei’s… pic.twitter.com/09Hom3xpWl
Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi says,
he survived strikes that targeted Ali Khamenei’s office, recalling that he was inside the building when it was hit and later emerged from the rubble.
He also referenced Israeli footage showing around 50 fighter jets striking Khamenei’s compound.
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Araghchi survived the February 28 onslaught because he was in a different wing of the building. According to counterterrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed, who watched the interview, the foreign minister acknowledged the accuracy of the strike. The moment stuck out because it’s rare indeed to hear an Iranian leader saying anything positive about America or our military:
"In the Arabic version, Araghchi says he was in a different wing of the compound, briefing another official, and his wing survived while the leader's office was destroyed," Mohammed explained.
Araghchi also told the interviewer that he had an appointment that day with an official at the compound regarding the Geneva negotiations and that, based on the usual workflow, Khamenei "had to be present in his office."
Mohammed, director of the Antisemitism Research Initiative at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, added that if Araghchi's account is accurate, this was Iran's glaring acknowledgment of U.S. strategic capabilities.
Araghchi also revealed that the Ayatollah might have survived if he’d listened to his advisors. While the foreign minister tries to play it as an act of bravery, one can’t help but wonder if it was also an act of “not being very smart”:
In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, Chairman of the Board Ghassan Ben Jeddou asked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi whether reports were true that Sayyed Khamenei had been advised to move to a highly secure location but refused.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 4, 2026
Araghchi said it was reported that… pic.twitter.com/s66pC7dyCX
In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, Chairman of the Board Ghassan Ben Jeddou asked Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi whether reports were true that Sayyed Khamenei [the former Supreme Leader] had been advised to move to a highly secure location but refused.
Araghchi said it was reported that Sayyed Khamenei responded: "I will not go to a shelter or to a secure location unless every member of the Iranian people also has access to a safe place and to shelters. Since that possibility is not available to everyone at this time, I too will remain above ground alongside the people. Whatever happens to my people will happen to me as well."
He added that this reflects the difference between a leader who rules hearts and one who merely governs a country, affirming: "Our leader ruled hearts."
We can’t ask the former Supreme Leader if he’d reconsider his decision because he’s no longer breathing. He fooled around, and he found out.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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