Iran Foreign Minister Dodges Question About Whether Iran Is Receiving Help From Russia To Locate US Forces

Foreign Minister of Iran Abbas Araghchi evaded a question about whether the country is receiving help from Russia to help locate US forces as America and Israel continue to strike Iran.

“Are you receiving any help from Russia?” moderator Kristen Welker directly asked Araghchi Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Araghchi replied, “Well, we have a strategy partnership with Russia,” prompting Welker to further press him, asking, “So that’s a yes?”

“Well, a military cooperation between Iran and Russia is not something new. It’s not a secret. It has been in the past, and it’s still there, and will continue in the future,” the Iranian diplomat replied.

Welker didn’t let up. She asked for clarification whether or not Russia is helping Iran “locate US forces.”

“Well, I don’t have exact military information. As far as I know, we have a very good partnership with Russia,” he said.

“So they are helping you? They are providing intelligence?” the NBC host asked again.

Refusing to answer directly, Araghchi responded, “Well, they are helping us in many different directions. I don’t have any detailed information.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Araghchi reacted to President Donald Trump’s claims that he’ll pick the next Iranian Supreme Leader.

“We allow nobody to interfere in our domestic affairs,” he told Welker. “This is up to the Iranian people to elect their new leader. They have already elected the Assembly of Experts, and the Assembly of Experts will do the job. It’s only the business of the Iranian people, and nobody else’s business.”

After Welker mentioned many people have suggested that the new supreme leader for Iran would be the son of the late supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, Araghchi said: “Nobody knows.”

Trump last week said he authorised the strike that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before Tehran could follow up on alleged plots against him, telling ABC News: “I got him before he got me. They tried twice … I got him first.”

Trump was citing an alleged Iranian plot to kill him during the 2024 presidential campaign: The US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate then-President-elect Trump and other U.S. officials.

Iran denied accusations of any “murder-for-hire” schemes.

Araghchi told Welker “there are lots of rumours around” about who will be the next leader of Iran, adding, “But you know, we have to wait for the Assembly of Experts to convene and vote for the new supreme leader, and the one who is elected by them.”

Watch Araghchi’s “Meet the Press” interview below.