March 6, 2026
“We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don’t see any reason why we should negotiate with the U.S.”
The Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Araghchi says the country is “not asking for a ceasefire” from the U.S. or Israel and is “waiting” for a ground invasion from American troops.
Araghchi gave the warning during an exclusive interview with NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas.
He said Iran is “confident” they would be able to confront the U.S. military—and if President Donald Trump decides to invade, “they are waiting for them.”
“We are not asking for a ceasefire, and we don’t see any reason why we should negotiate with the U.S., when we negotiated with them twice and every time they attacked us in the middle of negotiations,” Araghchi told Llamas. “So there is no request for a ceasefire from us and there is no request for negotiation with the U.S. from us. We are waiting for them.”
When Llamas asked to confirm, the foreign minister said “yes” as they are “confident that they can confront them and that would be a big disaster for them.”
CNBC reports Araghchi labeled the battle as “not our war,” but as “a war of choice by the United States.”
According to The Hill, the last time representatives for Iran and the U.S. met for negotiations on a new nuclear agreement was Feb. 26, less than 48 hours before Operation Epic Fury launched. The strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other military leaders.
In retaliation, Iran’s military issued drone strikes on Israel and Gulf states, killing six U.S. service members.
While social media users issued concerns on homeland attacks, Araghchi said Iran’s military has their eyes set on targeting American military bases in the Middle East, seemingly adding to Trump’s sentiments that troops may die.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Trump said. “And sadly, there will likely be more. Before it ends, that’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
The foreign minister said with the military capacity the U.S. has, there is no reason to go past that as the issue isn’t with American citizens.
“We have attacked American targets and American bases, American installations, which are unfortunately located in the soils of our neighbors,” he said. “So we have made it clear for them, I have been in touch with their foreign ministers, and I have explained that ‘we are not targeting you. We have no problem with you. We have only, are only targeting the American installations.”
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