Ria Reddy, Andie Parry, Nidal Morrison, Avery Borens, Ben Schmida, Carolyn Moorman, Katherine Wells, Johanna Moore, and Brian Carter

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Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi leveraged an interview with a US media outlet on July 21 to misrepresent Iran's nuclear program and Iran’s policy towards the West to a Western audience. Araghchi interviewed with Fox News on July 22 and stated that Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Araghchi stated that Iran has never produced 90 percent enriched uranium and only produced 60 percent uranium after its facilities were “sabotaged.” Civilian nuclear programs only need to enrich uranium up to 5 percent. Iran has taken several other steps that are consistent with the steps necessary for a state to develop a nuclear weapon, if it chooses to do so. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed in May 2025 that Iran conducted undeclared nuclear activities that could support the development of nuclear weapons at three locations in Iran until the early 2000s. The IAEA stated that Iran conducted implosion tests at one of these sites in 2003 as part of its broader plan to conduct a cold test, which is typically the final test of a nuclear weapon implosion development program. Axios reported in June 2024 that Iran had begun running computer simulations that could support the research and development of a nuclear weapon, citing US and Israeli intelligence agencies. Iran has developed several large enrichment facilities, like those at as Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Natanz Enrichment Complex. CTP-ISW has long assessed that Iran would likely build a nuclear arsenal—not just a single weapon—if it chose to weaponize, and large enrichment facilities would be necessary for an arsenal but unnecessary for a purely civilian program.

Araghchi downplayed Iranian threats to assassinate senior US officials. Araghchi stated that Iran’s “Death to America” slogan does not include Americans, and it has “never been Iran’s official position” to call for the death of senior US officials. Senior Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to kill senior US officials. US intelligence has previously identified credible evidence that Iran is actively working on plots to kill US President Donald Trump. Araghchi stated that it has also "never been Iran's policy" to "wipe Israel from the map." Iran has also cultivated a transnational coalition of partners and proxies since 1979 to pursue its strategic interests that include expelling the United States from the Middle East and destroying the Israeli state. Senior Iranian officials, including Khamenei, who sets the regime’s official policy, have repeatedly emphasized that Iran seeks to “erase Israel.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made a similar effort to platform Iran's demands and misrepresent Iran’s destabilizing role in the Middle East during an interview with American media personality Tucker Carlson on July 7.

Key Takeaways:

• Arraghchi interview: Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi leveraged an interview with a US media outlet to misrepresent Iran's nuclear program and Iran’s policy towards the West to a Western audience. Iran asserted that it maintained a peaceful nuclear program despite enriching uranium far beyond levels required for a civilian program and developing technology that would be required for weaponization. Araghchi also downplayed repeated, credible threats from senior Iranian officials to assassinate senior US officials.
• Syrian MoD abuses commission: The independent commission investigating abuses on the Syrian coast in March 2025 found that the massacres were not centrally organized or sectarian, but that a lack of government control over armed groups in the Ministry of Defense contributed to the abuses. The report’s excuse that the killings were not “sectarian” but instead revenge-based ignores the complexity of sectarian violence, which is almost always in retaliation or revenge for a perceived attack by another sect.
• Iraqi actors and PMF: Some Iranian-backed Iraqi actors are attempting to use sectarian events in Syria to justify the continued existence of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). These Shia actors have remained immensely distrustful of the Syrian transitional government under Ahmed al Shara due to his historic ties to al Qaeda and ISIS. Discussion surrounding US demands to disarm the PMF is probably driving some of these Iraqi militia efforts to justify their existence.

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