Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has given a detailed account of the 40-day war, revealing that Tehran believed war was inevitable before it began, had preplanned retaliation across the region, and entered last-minute nuclear talks largely to exhaust the diplomatic path before an expected U.S.-Israeli attack.

In a sweeping interview with filmmaker Javad Mogouei, Araghchi described Iran’s preparations for war, the opening attack that killed Iran’s leader and senior officials, Tehran’s regional retaliation, secret diplomatic exchanges, and the calculations that ultimately led Iran to accept a ceasefire.

➤ Iran believed war was coming before negotiations ended.

Araghchi said Iranian political and military officials were “certain” an attack was coming. Tehran nevertheless entered three rounds of negotiations because there remained some chance of avoiding war and so no one could later claim Iran had refused diplomacy.

The central dispute remained enrichment. Washington demanded zero enrichment and later a multi-year suspension. Iran refused, Araghchi said, “even at the cost of war.”

He said that by Friday, after the final round of talks in Geneva, he had concluded war was certain. Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, traveled to Washington and warned Araghchi that the atmosphere there had become “completely” oriented toward war, even as he sought a meeting with JD Vance amid concerns that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had not accurately conveyed the negotiations.

➤ Iran had preplanned its response if the leadership was killed.

Araghchi said the Supreme National Security Council had prepared written plans for scenarios ranging from a U.S.-only attack to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, attacks on infrastructure, and the killing of Iran’s leader.

The last scenario was reportedly assigned a code because officials did not want to say it aloud: “Code 110.”

Araghchi said the plan included immediately closing the Strait of Hormuz if the leader was targeted and activating a broader regional military response.

➤ Araghchi says he survived the opening attack himself.

At around 9 a.m., he was inside the leadership compound warning a senior official that an attack was imminent when multiple buildings were struck.

He described three explosions, ceilings and walls collapsing, wounded people screaming, and himself and Mohammad Hejazi climbing through steel beams and rubble to escape. A stranger eventually drove the dust-covered foreign minister back to his ministry.

Araghchi said simultaneous attacks targeted meetings involving military commanders, intelligence officials and senior leadership, exposing a major “security breach.” He suggested the breach may extend beyond espionage to attempts to influence Iranian decision-making and the country’s psychological environment.

➤ Tehran immediately warned the Gulf that U.S. bases would be hit.

Within hours, Araghchi said he personally called Gulf foreign ministers and told them Iran would strike American forces stationed on their territory.

He said Tehran had warned regional governments even before the war: if Iran’s nuclear facilities were struck, equivalent targets would be hit; if the U.S. entered the war, American bases across the region would be attacked; and if Iran was prevented from exporting oil, “no one in the region” would export oil.

One regional leader, Araghchi recalled, confidently told him before the war that Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities would be destroyed and Tehran would be unable to respond because its leadership would also be targeted.