Iran’s Spokesman Accuses U.S. of Rewriting the War’s Origins

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei accused American officials on November 14 of rewriting the origins of the war to evade responsibility for its consequences. His English-language statement challenged an American account linking decades of confrontation with Iran to the country’s 1979 revolution. Baqaei said the revolution had sought sovereignty, freedom and dignity. “Military aggression has a clear definition,” he wrote. He alleged that the United States had launched two attacks in less than nine months while diplomatic negotiations were underway, and blamed Washington for civilian harm and damage to infrastructure. He dated the war for which he held the United States responsible to February 28, 2026. The spokesman also accused Washington of concealing a military and political impasse behind claims of victory. Arguing that the historical account should begin before 1979, he listed the 1953 coup, American support for Saddam Hussein, the destruction of an Iranian civilian aircraft in 1988, sanctions, withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and Qassem Soleimani’s killing among Iran’s grievances. President Donald Trump had presented the American position in Veterans Day remarks carried by the White House on November 11. He said Iran had been “waging war on America since 1979” and that his administration had fought back. The White House’s accompanying account described preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon as a mission of American service members.