Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed the justification offered by Washington for the ongoing US-Israeli aggression against Iran, calling it an example of “state capture.”
In a post on social media platform X, Araghchi wrote: “There is a term for this in political science. It is called ‘state capture’, and it is exactly what the American People voted to end.”
The foreign minister was responding to a series of posts by American researcher and data analyst Stephen McIntyre, who examined the White House’s explanation for an unlawful attack against Iran.
According to McIntyre’s analysis, a March 2, 2026 White House statement, presented as the most comprehensive justification for the US-Israeli military action, listed 44 incidents and claimed that 992 Americans had been killed. He argued that the document did not cite independent intelligence sources.
McIntyre said the data appeared to have been derived from a report published on June 19, 2025 by Tzvi Kahn, a former staff member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank.
Kahn’s report was released shortly before the first US strike against Iran in June last year, he said. McIntyre added that a comparison of details shows the White House statement closely mirrors the report’s list of incidents, with some claims even intensified in the official version.
The US and the Israeli regime launched their joint military aggression on Iran on February 28, following their previous war in June last year. Both conflicts were launched as Tehran was in the midst of diplomatic talks with Washington over its peaceful nuclear program.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike targeting his residence and office in Tehran on the first day of the ongoing aggression.
In response, Iran launched precise retaliatory strikes against Israeli positions and US bases, citing its inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter and warned that further escalation will invite a harsher reaction.
