Abbas Araghchi

Force in Play

Met Putin in St. Petersburg on April 27-28; continuing as Tehran's senior diplomatic voice in Oman-mediated talks; Iranian Foreign Ministry under his direction said on May 11 that US demands are unreasonable

The Iran-US war reached its 73rd day with talks at a deadlock. Trump called Iran's May 10 response 'garbage' and declared the ceasefire on 'massive life support'; the US wants Iran to halt enrichment for 12 years and hand over 440 kilograms of enriched uranium, while Iran is demanding war reparations and full Hormuz sovereignty.

Updated 5 days ago

Built World

Coordinating Iran's 14-point peace counterproposal via Pakistan; condemned US tanker strikes as ceasefire violations

The April 8 ceasefire lasted less than 24 hours — Iran re-closed the Strait of Hormuz the next day. The U.S. responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports by April 12, and oil surged to $126 per barrel by late April.

Updated 5 days ago

Force in Play

Iran's lead negotiator; confirmed ceasefire April 8; led Islamabad Talks April 11-12; returned to Pakistan April 26 for further negotiations

A Pakistan-brokered Iran-US ceasefire on April 7-8 collapsed in days. Iran demanded tolls above $1 million per ship and peace talks in Islamabad failed on April 11-12. The US imposed a naval blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13; Iran formally closed the Strait again on April 18 — and IRGC gunboats fired on two Indian-flagged tankers that held valid transit clearance.

Updated 6 days ago

Rule Changes

Co-led Iranian delegation at failed Islamabad talks April 11–12; claimed Iran was 'inches away' from a deal before US 'shifted the goalposts'; announced Iran's withdrawal from second round of Islamabad talks on April 20 following US seizure of the Touska

Diplomatic efforts to constrain Iran's nuclear program collapsed into open war on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran—codenamed Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion—targeting military infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and senior leadership. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the strikes; his son Mojtaba Khamenei was elected by the Assembly of Experts as the new Supreme Leader on March 8, but has not appeared publicly since, reportedly recovering from injuries sustained in the same strike that killed his father. Iran retaliated across the region and closed the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of world oil trade flows. A ceasefire brokered by Pakistan took effect on April 8, under which Iran agreed to reopen the Strait—though Iran re-closed it on April 18 after the United States refused to lift a naval blockade imposed following failed peace talks.

Updated Apr 20

Force in Play

Politically exposed after IRGC countermanded his 'completely open' Hormuz declaration within hours; IRGC fired on India-flagged ships citing Foreign Ministry clearance, deepening his authority gap

President Trump on April 19 threatened to destroy Iran's bridges and power plants — warning the 'whole country is going to get blown up' if Tehran fails to sign a deal — while simultaneously confirming a US delegation was heading to Islamabad for a second round of negotiations before the April 21 ceasefire expiry. Trump also disclosed he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping not to supply weapons to Iran. The escalating rhetoric came as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) formally closed the Strait of Hormuz again on April 18–19, citing the continued US naval blockade of Iranian ports, less than 48 hours after Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had declared the waterway 'completely open.' The IRGC fired on at least two India-flagged vessels — the Sanmar Herald and Jag Arnav — whose crews cited the Foreign Ministry's clearance only to be ordered away under fire. India summoned Iran's ambassador in protest. The US blockade has now turned back 23 ships and is estimated to be costing Iran roughly $435 million per day.

Updated Apr 19

Force in Play

Led Iran to ceasefire ratification; preparing for Islamabad permanent talks

Forty days ago, the United States and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggered the largest disruption to global oil markets since the 1970s. After over 7,300 deaths and Brent crude spiking above $126 per barrel from Iran's Strait of Hormuz closure, Iran's Supreme National Security Council ratified a two-week ceasefire on April 8 — minutes before President Trump's 8 p.m. deadline to strike Iranian infrastructure. The deal mandates safe passage through the strait with Iranian coordination, halting Operation Epic Fury.

Updated Apr 8

Force in Play

Serving as Iran's chief diplomatic voice during the conflict

Since February 28, the US-Iran war has escalated from military and oil targets to critical water infrastructure across the Gulf, now reaching the United Arab Emirates. Key incidents include a March 8 Iranian drone strike on a Bahrain desalination plant, an April 3 attack on Kuwait power and desalination plants with the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery, April 5 strikes on two Kuwait power and water desalination plants plus Bahrain's Bapco oil storage, and April 7 Iranian missiles and drones targeting UAE air defenses and infrastructure. On April 7, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared that its prior restraint in targeting oil infrastructure and civilian sites in Gulf states 'no longer applies,' marking an explicit escalation threshold after a US strike on Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub.

Updated Apr 7

Force in Play

Warning of Iranian retaliation against US energy infrastructure

Operation Epic Fury, launched jointly by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, reached day 39 with the heaviest strikes yet on Iran, confirming over 9,000 targets hit, more than 130 naval vessels destroyed, and at least 55 senior regime leaders killed—including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on March 1, IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri on March 26, and on April 6, IRGC intelligence chief Majid Khademi and Quds Force Unit 840 head Yazdan Mir in US-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. Key escalations include Iran's March 18 missile strikes on Israel and Gulf states, Qatar's expulsion of Iranian attachés after the March 19 Ras Laffan attack, the Israeli airstrike killing IRGC spokesman General Ali Mohammad Naeini on March 20, CENTCOM's March 21 update confirming 8,000 targets hit and air superiority, Iran's March 24 missile barrages on Tel Aviv, March 27 Israeli strikes on Iran's central naval arms production site and multiple ballistic missile factories in the Tehran area, Iran's April 2 launch of four missile salvos at Israel including cluster warheads, April 3's downing of a US F-15E Strike Eagle—the first American combat aircraft lost—and April 5's successful rescue of both crew members by US special operations forces after a two-day evasion and extraction operation.

Updated Apr 7

Force in Play

Leading diplomatic effort to condemn strikes near Bushehr

A projectile struck 350 meters from Iran's only operating nuclear reactor on April 4, killing a security guard and damaging an auxiliary building — the fourth time ordnance has landed on or near the Bushehr nuclear power plant since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on February 28. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed no radiation increase was detected, but Director General Rafael Grossi warned that auxiliary buildings may house vital safety equipment and that nuclear plant sites "must never be attacked."

Updated Apr 5

Force in Play

Rejecting ceasefire talks while offering to dilute enriched uranium

Iran's nuclear infrastructure has become the primary target of an intensifying US-Israeli air campaign that began February 28 and has now entered its sixth week. The Natanz uranium enrichment complex has been struck four times; on April 4, 2026, US and Israeli forces expanded the campaign to strike the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Mahshahr petrochemical hub in southwestern Iran, killing at least one security guard and wounding five workers. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned that strikes on civilian nuclear power plants cross 'the reddest line' of nuclear safety, raising the risk of a radiological catastrophe. Meanwhile, Iran has demonstrated growing military capability: on April 4, Iranian air defenses downed two US warplanes, marking the first confirmed loss of American aircraft in the conflict.

Updated Apr 4

Force in Play

Serving as foreign minister during the 2026 Iran war

For nearly a decade, Iran insisted it had deliberately capped its ballistic missile range at 2,000 kilometers — far enough to hit Israel and American bases in the Middle East, but not Europe. On March 21, 2026, Iran fired two missiles at the joint US-UK military base on Diego Garcia, a remote Indian Ocean atoll roughly 4,000 kilometers from Iranian territory. One missile failed in flight; a United States warship intercepted the other. Neither struck the base — but the attempt itself rewrote the strategic map.

Updated Mar 22

Force in Play

Leading Iran's diplomatic response; accused US of striking civilian infrastructure

In thirteen days of US-Israeli military strikes on Iran, up to 3.2 million people have fled their homes without leaving the country. The United Nations refugee agency reported on March 12 that between 600,000 and one million Iranian households abandoned Tehran and other major cities for northern provinces and rural areas, marking one of the fastest mass internal displacements in modern conflict.

Updated Mar 12

Force in Play

Leading Iran's delegation in nuclear talks with the US

In June 2025, Israeli and American strikes destroyed roughly a third of Iran's air defense network in twelve days. Since then, leaked Russian documents and follow‑on reporting have shown Tehran spending billions to replace what it lost—and then some, including a secret €500 million agreement for 500 Verba shoulder‑fired launchers and 2,500 missiles, plus long‑range S‑400 batteries and up to 48 Su‑35 fighter jets whose first 16 airframes are now reported to be in production for Iran. Analysts say this mix of high‑end systems and widely dispersed man‑portable air‑defense systems is designed to make any future U.S. or Israeli air campaign far more complex and costly.

Updated Mar 7

Rule Changes

Leading nuclear negotiations while defending Iran's red lines

Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington this week with a single message: any deal with Iran must go beyond uranium. After three hours in the Oval Office on February 11, President Trump emerged saying 'nothing definitive' was reached—but negotiations would continue. Netanyahu signed onto Trump's Board of Peace initiative and extracted a promise of continued talks, though Iran insists its ballistic missiles remain off the table.

Updated Feb 11

Rule Changes

Condemned the EU designation

For over two decades, the European Union resisted designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, wary of severing diplomatic ties with Tehran. On January 29, 2026, that resistance collapsed. All 27 EU foreign ministers voted unanimously to place the IRGC on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Islamic State—a designation that triggers automatic asset freezes and travel bans across the bloc. Within hours, the United Kingdom signaled it would follow suit with separate legislation targeting hostile state agencies.

Updated Jan 31

Force in Play

Condemned EU's IRGC terrorist designation; stated no talks with Washington currently planned; regime faces unprecedented international isolation

Iran's nationwide uprising, which began when Tehran's bazaaris marched on December 28, 2025, was crushed through what may be the deadliest massacre in the Islamic Republic's history. While early reports during the internet blackout confirmed 572 deaths, evidence emerging after partial internet restoration in late January reveals at least 6,126 people killed according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency—with some estimates ranging from 12,000 to over 36,500. Most deaths occurred during a 48-hour period on January 8-9 when Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Basij forces opened fire on protesters across all 31 provinces. On January 17, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly acknowledged 'several thousand' people had been killed, while President Trump called him a 'sick man' and declared 'it's time to look for new leadership in Iran.' Over 42,000 have been detained, with at least 52 executions already carried out and the judiciary threatening swift trials for thousands more under 'mohareb' (enemy of God) charges.

Updated Jan 31

Force in Play

Declared Iran ready for war or dialogue with U.S.

Iran's judiciary chief announced January 14 that detained protesters face fast-track trials and executions despite Trump's warning of "very strong action," as the death toll reached at least 2,571 according to Human Rights Activists News Agency—quadrupling in just two days and exceeding any crackdown since the 1979 revolution. Erfan Soltani, 26, became the first protester sentenced to death after a four-day proceeding without legal representation, though his execution was postponed amid international outcry. The U.S. began evacuating hundreds of troops from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar—home to 10,000 personnel and Central Command's forward headquarters—positioning them out of range should Trump's threatened strikes trigger Iranian missile retaliation.

Updated Jan 14

Force in Play

Visited Lebanon January 8, 2026 to discuss Hezbollah and bilateral relations

Lebanon's army says it now controls the south—except for five hilltops Israel refuses to give up. On January 8, 2026, the military announced it had completed phase one of disarming Hezbollah and other militias south of the Litani River, bringing weapons under state control for the first time in 40 years. Over 9,000 soldiers swept the war-battered region, clearing unexploded ordnance and tunnels left from the devastating 2024 war that killed 4,000 people and displaced 1.3 million. Hours later, Iran's foreign minister arrived in Beirut for tense talks, and the next day Israel resumed strikes across southern Lebanon—business as usual despite the milestone announcement.

Updated Jan 10