TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister has warned that the country’s restraint during recent war with Israel should not be interpreted as weakness or assumed to be unlimited, highlighting the high cost of Israeli provocations for the United States and the region.

In an article published by The Guardian on Tuesday, Abbas Araghchi said that Israel’s push to involve the U.S. in a confrontation with Iran earlier this year came at “a steep and unprecedented cost” for Tel Aviv. According to Araghchi, the situation has prompted some Americans to question Israel’s role in regional policy, with U.S. allies in the Arab world also recognizing Israel’s actions as destabilizing.

“The war in June was momentous,” Araghchi wrote, referring to the 12-day confrontation between Israel and Iran. He argued that, despite Israeli claims of victory, Iran’s vast strategic depth and population meant that most of the country remained untouched, while Israel experienced the strength of Iran’s military. “The narrative of invulnerability—central to Israel’s myth-making—has been shattered,” he said.

Araghchi criticized Western skepticism over Iran’s nuclear program as “manufactured,” emphasizing that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons for strategic, ethical, or religious reasons. He said that during the Trump administration, U.S. policymakers were misled into believing that Iran was near collapse, prompting Washington to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal in favor of “maximum pressure,” which Iran says only strengthened its resistance.

Araghchi also noted Israel as a regional threat. He cited Israeli attacks on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Qatar over the past two years and described the actions as aggression. He suggested that recent events have created opportunities for new regional cooperation aimed at countering Israel’s influence, which opened the door to “novel cooperation.”

Araghchi also highlighted the potential for renewed U.S.-Iran dialogue, noting “unprecedented willingness among mutual friends of Iran and the U.S. to facilitate dialogue and underwrite the full and verifiable implementation of any negotiated outcome.” He stressed that Iran remains open to negotiations grounded in mutual respect and interest, but warned that any diplomatic engagement must not be framed as a demand for Iranian capitulation.

“Iran has never desired a war with the U.S.,” Araghchi said, citing Iranian military restraint during the June conflict as evidence that U.S. installations in the region remain intact. “That restraint should not be mistaken for weakness or assumed to be endless.”

The article concluded with a call for diplomacy, asserting that Iran is prepared for “serious negotiations” to reach a fair and verifiable deal that respects its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including access to peaceful nuclear technology. Araghchi described recent regional shifts as a “brief window of opportunity” to break longstanding cycles of tension.