Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Türkiye played a decisive diplomatic role in blocking U.S. and Israeli efforts to destabilize and partition Iran during the recent conflict, praising Ankara for maintaining a firm position throughout the crisis.
Speaking to Javad Moghouei during an online interview, Araghchi said Türkiye actively engaged with Washington and regional actors while opposing any attempt to fuel internal unrest or territorial fragmentation in Iran.
His remarks came as tensions between the United States and Iran continued following the collapse of the Islamabad agreement, which had previously helped reduce hostilities.
Araghchi said the risk of Iran's fragmentation emerged during the early days of the conflict. Recalling events on the fourth day of the war, he said U.S. President Donald Trump contacted leaders in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Iranian foreign minister said he subsequently spoke with Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Bafel Talabani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, warning that Iran would respond to any threat originating from the Kurdish region.
He also said he held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that same evening, describing Türkiye as a key diplomatic actor during the crisis.
"Türkiye played a very effective role. They held talks with the Americans and maintained a very firm position on this issue," Araghchi noted. "These collective efforts prevented the plot to divide Iran and create internal unrest from succeeding."
The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has flared up again, with the U.S. military concluding its ninth consecutive night of attacks on Iran early Monday. Iran has been responding with attacks on countries hosting U.S. military bases in the region.
The U.S. has targeted bridges, electrical facilities and other targets in Iran and Tehran has retaliated by hitting power and desalination plants in Kuwait, threatening daily life in that small, oil-rich desert nation.
Iran also has stepped up its threats to further expand the strikes, drawing a warning overnight from the United Arab Emirates.
Kuwait and Bahrain again activated air defenses Sunday morning as they warned of incoming Iranian drones and missiles.
His comments echoed previous media reports claiming that Israel had sought U.S. backing for plans aimed at encouraging separatist unrest inside Iran during the opening phase of the conflict.
Araghchi also accused exiled Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, of supporting plans to partition the country during a visit to Israel. He alleged that Pahlavi proposed allowing border regions to be separated while seeking to rule the country's center, although he did not provide evidence to support the claim.
Israeli media previously reported that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency proposed supporting armed Kurdish separatist groups in western Iran to increase pressure on Tehran. Those reports claimed the proposal was ultimately shelved by the White House following strong objections from Türkiye.
Separately, Araghchi described difficult negotiations with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, saying he reminded the American official that Iranian negotiators had continued diplomatic contacts despite facing the threat of military strikes.
"You cannot threaten us or buy us," Araghchi said, adding that Iran would not back down under military or political pressure.
Meanwhile, reports from Russia suggested that Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following his reported death during the conflict, could hold his first foreign contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia's state-run TASS news agency cited an unnamed Iranian official as saying Moscow remained Tehran's closest strategic partner. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was prepared to speak with Iran's leadership whenever necessary.
Fighting between the United States and Iran continued over the weekend. U.S. Central Command said American forces targeted Iranian command centers, missile launch sites, drone facilities and communications infrastructure. Iran responded with strikes targeting locations in the Gulf region and what it described as an enemy command center in Syria.
The U.S. military also reported that one American service member was killed and another wounded in northern Iraq while attempting to safely dispose of an unexploded Iranian drone. Days earlier, two U.S. troops were killed, four were wounded and another was reported missing in Jordan.
Amid the escalating conflict, Reuters reported that mediators had proposed a 10-day pause in hostilities to revive negotiations between Washington and Tehran, while assessments circulating within the Trump administration suggested U.S. munitions stockpiles had been strained by the prolonged fighting.
