Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has acknowledged that the country’s armed forces are acting on pre-issued instructions, rather than real-time direction from Tehran.
“What happened in Oman was not our choice,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera on March 1, as Iranian strikes widened across the Gulf for a second consecutive day. “We have already told our armed forces to be careful about the targets they choose.” He added that Iranian military units were acting on “general instructions"—a formulation that suggests decentralized command, likely informed by plans laid out in advance.
The remarks came as Iran’s retaliatory campaign hit targets in Dubai, Doha, Manama, and the Omani port of Duqm—with Oman, which had been mediating nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington, apparently struck without the foreign minister’s knowledge or approval.
