Iran’s Araghchi: Iran to Rain down Hell if US Escalates War

By Staff, Agencies 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Abbas Araghchi warned that the US risks “dire consequences” if it escalates the war.

Araghchi further urged Washington to accept its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and pave the way for further negotiations.

The warning followed American strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island near the strait on Sunday night, according to local officials. Air defense and radar installations on Qeshm were also targeted last week.

Tehran’s proposal remains on the table, Araghchi said on Sunday, urging the White House to choose diplomacy.

“Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell,” he wrote on X.

Tehran’s conditions include lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, easing sanctions, releasing frozen assets, and ending hostilities on all fronts. Under the proposal, Washington would implement the initial measures on the first day, followed by the reopening of the waterway on the second. Before the war, about a fifth of the world’s oil passed through the strait.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed some of those demands as “outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic.” Tehran’s spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the offer as “the most logical plan on the table,” saying it could restore security in the strait and the Gulf.

Iran insists on retaining what it describes as sovereignty over the strait, including requiring vessels to coordinate passage with its authorities, a demand Washington opposes.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Tehran’s lead negotiator, accused “Israel” on Monday of drawing the US into an endless war. “Unless Washington drops the ‘Israel’ First’ mindset, America and its allies are headed straight for a dark age,” he said.