Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the events directed against Iran over the past year and several months were, in his words, a clear example of the actions of a “front of terror.” He stressed that economic terrorism, like violent terrorism, is criminal in nature and has innocent victims.
According to Habilian, citing IRNA’s foreign policy correspondent, Khatibzadeh, who also heads the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for Political and International Studies, said that those behind recent terrorist acts against Iran had expected that targeting officials and military, security and political figures, while creating fear in society, would trigger defections and collapse. Instead, he said, the Iranian public, officials, armed forces and diplomats stood firm and overturned those calculations. The full text of his remarks follows:
The ‘Front of Terror’ Thought Assassinations Would Bring Iran Down
“Never in Iran’s contemporary history have the fronts of right and wrong been separated so clearly in terms of scale, form and character. I do not think it has ever been so straightforward to speak about something called ‘terrorism.’ There were times when terrorism was packaged in different layers and sold to societies under deceptive names. But what has happened in this country—particularly over the past year and several months—is, in my view, the clearest example of a front of terror confronting a wronged Islamic Iran and the Resistance Front. It would be entirely appropriate to call them the front of terror, the front of fear, or the front of killing.”
“We should establish a ‘Topography of Terror’ or a ‘Tehran Museum of Terror’ where the names of all those who have fallen victim to this front of terror and its crimes can be displayed, both in conceptual terms and through specific documented cases.”
“What this front of terror has done against the Iranian people and the country over the past several years will remain in history. But alongside it stands the grandeur of resistance and the dignity of the victims’ steadfastness—another badge of honor for the Iranian people, the nation and the officials of this country, who regard themselves as servants of the people.”
“The front of terror thought that by carrying out assassinations, the political, military and security structures would begin to collapse; that our soldiers would stop reporting for duty and begin taking leave; that the kind of disintegration seen during the collapse of the Soviet Union would occur here. Yet in this historical laboratory they saw, with their own eyes, that the people of Iran, Iran’s officials, soldiers, commanders, senior officers and diplomats all stood in the name of Iran and remained at their posts. Not even a single leave form was filled out. No launcher was left without a soldier, and no microphone was left without a speaker. There are dozens, even hundreds, of examples of national resilience from the height of the atmosphere of terror that the Western front of domination had created for us.”
Economic Terrorism Is as Criminal as Armed Terrorism
“This war—and the series of wars imposed on our nation, the latest of which is the economic terrorism now being waged against the people—shows that economic terrorism is just as criminal as violent terrorism backed by guns and bullets. It is also, in our view, a war crime, and its victims are innocent people.”
“They should know that even if they repeat the same mistaken path a thousand times, they will face the same failure a thousand times. These wars demonstrated that all their distorted perceptions and flawed assumptions—that this nation’s resilience had been exhausted, that the state could no longer stand, that the Army, the IRGC and our armed forces lacked the capacity to respond effectively, and that the country’s political, military and security structures were fragmented—were wrong. We heard these claims around the clock from media outlets fed by the front of domination. Every communication channel we monitored was saying that the final day had arrived and that they were about to reach Tehran. Today, all of those assumptions have been swept away once and for all by the blood of our martyrs and by a mobilized Iranian nation.”
“Of course, we all know that we must remain faithful to our commitment and, as we have been commanded, ‘remain steadfast as you have been commanded.’ The path of steadfastness is certainly not over. In the circumstances imposed upon us, willingly or unwillingly, we put our hands on our knees and stood up again. God willing, we will join hands. The state, whose primary responsibility is to safeguard the lives, dignity and security of the people, remains committed to continuing this path alongside the nation, despite all shortcomings and limitations. God willing, in the long sweep of history we will once again sing the anthem of dignity for this land.”
“I know that you have lost people who were precious to you—people who were your very lives, inseparable parts of you. God Almighty will, God willing, reward your endurance and struggle, and may your martyrs intercede for all of us when we are empty-handed. Our covenant with the martyrs will, God willing, remain in place to the last drop of our blood.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has had very clear instructions regarding the pursuit of justice and the protection of your rights and the rights of all victims. More importantly, it has made every effort in international forums to ensure that no perpetrator of these crimes enjoys impunity.”
International Relations Today Are No Longer Governed by International Law
“As you know, international relations today are no longer an arena governed by international law. There was a time when people said international law formed the basis of the international community. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, some became so triumphant that they said it was no longer about international law; those at the center of the liberal world instead spoke of ‘rules’ and a ‘rules-based international order.’ We warned them, but even then we said that rules—despite being open to interpretation—were still preferable. Eventually, however, arrogance and the historical confidence they had acquired brought them to the point that they said international relations are based on force. Mr. Trump spoke of ‘peace through strength’; what he meant, in our view, was hegemony through force.”
“Although they have moved away from international law and from rules and now seek only to exercise force, I promise you that countries such as Iran, which are genuinely committed to shared human values, will continue this path with determination as part of their inherent responsibility. God willing, we will hold all these terrorists accountable. I am more hopeful about the future than ever.”
According to IRNA, the ceremony marking the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism was held on Saturday, August 22, with the participation of Alireza Khodagholipour, deputy for research at IPIS; Nasser Seraj, deputy for international affairs of the Judiciary and secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights; and Seyed Mohammad Javad Hasheminejad, secretary-general of the Habilian Association. Participants commemorated victims of terrorism and stressed the need to pay greater attention to the human and human-rights dimensions of terrorism and its consequences for nations. Habilian’s “Annual Report on Terrorism in Iran 2025” was also unveiled at the event.