Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi revealed in an interview with Iranian journalist Javad Moghoui that he narrowly escaped assassination alongside the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the opening strike of the war in Iran.
According to Araghchi, Israel and the United States "had precise intelligence on the location of Khamenei and senior Iranian officials, enabling them to target them."
As Araghchi briefed Khamenei's Deputy Chief of Staff Ali Asghar Hejazi, the building they were in was hit by three explosions.
"I was just briefing Khamenei's Deputy Chief of Staff Ali Asghar Hejazi when the building was shaken by three explosions within seconds, each one closer than the last," Araghchi recounted. "I grabbed Hejazi's hand, and we made our way through beams, planks, and pieces of wood... Eventually we got out, and I saw that different parts of the compound had been targeted."
Araghchi added that a passerby evacuated him to a hospital, and for three days he did not know which senior officials had survived the attack.
"For three days we were cut off from all information, trying to find out who was alive and who had been killed," he said. "The enemies thought they could paralyze us by targeting the leadership, but they failed."
Later in the interview, Araghchi said he has not yet met the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, but claimed his appointment "sent a very important message to the world that there will be no change in the regime's policies or ideals."
He also said Iran is now focused on driving a wedge between the United States and Israel, adding, "Sometimes there are conflicts of interests and positions that can be exploited."