Sept. 3, 2026, 6:49 p.m.
News ID: 86254268
US ‘war of choice’ shattered illusion of absolute power: Baqaei

Tehran, IRNA — Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the US “war of choice” was an unlawful and unprovoked aggression aimed at collapsing the country, but instead shattered the illusion of Washington’s absolute power and moral standing.

In a post on his X account on Thursday, Baqaei said, “Today, 3 September, marks the anniversary of the martyrdom of Rais Ali Delvari — a symbol of Iran’s resistance to British imperialism.”
“On a day such as this, it is worth remembering Scott Bessent — the man who, in explaining his view of Iran, reached back to childhood memories of a backyard in South Carolina, where venomous snakes, he said, were killed with a machete and a rake.”
He added, “That is precisely where Bessent goes wrong. He mistakes the depth of Iran’s history and culture for the size of a childhood yard.”
“More than a century ago, the British Empire brought the full weight of its power and brutality to Bushehr and Tangestan. They killed Rais Ali Delvari, but the resistance continued...”
“Your brutal ‘war of choice ’ — an unlawful and unprovoked aggression — was meant to drive the Nation of Iran to collapse. What has collapsed instead is the illusion of your absolute power, and with it every claim to moral standing.”
“History is far larger than a kid’s memories and ‘their’ backyard. And history has a clear judgment for those who still cast themselves as heroes of the yard, armed with a machete and a rake, while knowing nothing of Rais Ali Delvari - or of a great civilization thousands of years old with a profound spirit of resistance to injustice,” Baqaei added.

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