Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the assassination of Ali Larijani, Secretary of Supreme National Security Council, by Israel will not destabilise Iran’s political system, even as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed “definite revenge”.
“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera.
He added that the assassination of Ali Khamenei had little impact on the system. “We have not had anyone more important than the leader himself, and even the leader was martyred, yet the system continued its work and immediately provided a replacement,” he said. “If anyone else is martyred, it will be the same.”
The IRGC, in a statement expressing condolences, said “the blood of the esteemed martyr would serve as a source of strength and national alertness in the face of the global arrogance and international Zionism.”
‘Stand on nukes unchanged’
Iran’s stance against the development of nuclear weapons will not significantly change, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera in remarks relayed by Iranian media on March 18.
Former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed early in the US-Israeli war against Iran, opposed the development of weapons of mass destruction in a fatwa, or religious edict, issued in the early 2000s.