What did the Iranian Foreign Minister tell us about the next Supreme Leader and the rise in oil prices?

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Monday that talks with the United States may be off the table after the United States and Israel began a military operation against the country.

In an interview with PBS News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz, Araqchi said he did not think talking to the Americans “would be on our agenda anymore.”

Araqchi cited the negotiations that took place last year regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which preceded the US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites in June. In justifying the strikes, Trump claimed that Iran “rejected every opportunity to abandon its nuclear ambitions.”

Araqchi said that during the last round of negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program last February, the Americans promised that they had “no intention to attack,” and they did so anyway.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was appointed as his successor on Sunday, more than a week after the elder Khamenei was killed in Israeli raids.

Araqchi said it was “too early” for Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not yet made a public statement in his new position, to make any comments about the talks with the United States.

“We are all waiting for his speeches and comments that will come later,” he said. “But I do not think that the issue of talking with the Americans, or negotiating with the Americans again, will be on the table because we have a very bitter experience in talking with the Americans.”

Read more: The war in Iran has entered its second week. Here’s where things stand

Trump, whose administration has offered varied and sometimes contradictory explanations for the war, demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as strikes continued last week. This will be met when Trump determines that Iran “no longer poses a threat to the United States of America,” White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters on Friday.

Mojtaba Khamenei was seen as a contender for the position of supreme leader before an Israeli raid hit his 86-year-old father’s office in Tehran, killing him and ending his 36-year rule.

Before the announcement, Trump had already rejected Khamenei’s son as an “unacceptable” choice, with the US president saying he would prefer “someone who brings harmony and peace to Iran.” He told NBC on Monday that the selection was a “huge mistake.” The president, who previously said he wanted to have a role in choosing Iran’s next leader, later told CBS News that he was considering someone else to take over as supreme leader, but did not provide any details.

Araqchi told PBS News that Mojtaba’s rise sends a message of “continuity and a kind of stability at the same time.”

Oil prices rose. Will Iran use the world’s dependence on oil to stop US-Israeli attacks?

Watch the clip in the player above.

Gasoline prices are rising as the conflict disrupts oil production and shipping routes in the Middle East.

Prices at gas stations in the United States jumped to an average of $3.48 per gallon, an increase of nearly 17% since the first US-Israeli strike against Iran on February 28.

The Middle East is home to some of the world’s largest oil producers. The Secretary of State was asked during the interview on Monday whether he believed Iran could effectively pressure the United States and Israel to stop their attacks by slowing or halting oil production.

“This is not our fault,” Araqchi said. “This is not our plan.”

He said, “The oil transportation movement has slowed or stopped not because of us, but because of the attacks and attacks launched by the Israelis and Americans against us.” “They have made the entire area unsafe.”

This is why oil tankers are “afraid” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane for global energy supplies that partly borders Iran, Araqchi said.

He added, “We did not close this strait. We do not prevent them from sailing in this strait,” saying that the American-Israeli strikes have consequences not only for Iran but for the international community.

Iran also struck several oil facilities in other Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Araqchi said that Iran is simply defending itself with such attacks. He described the US-Israeli operation as a “completely illegal act of aggression.”

He said: “We have warned everyone in the region that if the United States attacks us, because we cannot reach American territory, we will have to attack their bases in the region, their installations, facilities and assets, and as a result, the war will extend to the entire region.”

He added, “This is the result of the American aggression against us.” “We are not responsible for that.”