Heated Clash Erupts Between Brett Baier and Iranian Foreign Minister After Threats Aimed at Trump
Fox News anchor Bret Baier clashed with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during an interview Wednesday over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s public threats against President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Khamenei posted an image portraying Trump as an ancient pharaoh and warned that, like past despotic rulers, he would be overthrown at the height of his power. During an interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Baier challenged Araghchi’s claim that Iran’s nuclear program exists solely for peaceful purposes, questioning why enrichment facilities sit deep underground.
“Legitimate peaceful purposes for a nuclear program usually are not buried a mile down deep. And that is where the concern was,” Baier said.
Araghchi fired back by accusing Trump of sabotaging diplomacy. He said Trump turned against negotiations by launching a military strike.
“President Trump proved to be against diplomacy when he attacked us in June and when now he decided to cut any communication. So if there is any real interest to engage and to promote understanding and to understand what’s going on really on the ground, he has to pay attention to the realities and not to the misinformation provided to him by those who want to drag him into another war,” Araghchi responded.
Baier pressed further, returning to the Supreme Leader’s rhetoric.
“Again, I go back to the Supreme Leader, who does not sound like he’s anxious to sit down and talk with President Trump as a country, as he’s taunting him, calling him a tyrant who will be overthrown,” Baier said. “How do you do that and think that President Trump is going to take that as, ‘Oh yes, I should get to the table?’”
Araghchi rejected the premise, insisting Iran has repeatedly negotiated with the United States under the Supreme Leader’s approval.
“No, come on. We have engaged into negotiation with the U.S. several times, with the permission of the Supreme Leader. Why do you say that? No, let me tell you. We negotiated with the United States several times, and all of them turned into a very negative experience,” Araghchi said. “In 2015, we negotiated for two and a half years. We concluded a deal, and the United States decided to withdraw with no reason and with no justification. So why we should engage into negotiation with the United States, which means, in fact when the United States talks about negotiation it means they want dictation and not negotiation.”
Iran’s capital plunged into turmoil as anti-government protests ignited fires across Tehran, with Khamenei accusing Trump of fueling what he described as a foreign-backed uprising. Authorities shut down internet and phone service as videos showed widespread arson. Khamenei later labeled the demonstrators “vandals,” warning in a televised address that the Islamic Republic would not back down from what he called U.S.-inspired unrest.
“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” Khamenei said.
Public unrest erupted in December as Iran’s economy deteriorated, battered by steep price increases, the impact of U.S. penalties, and fallout from a brief but intense conflict with Israel in June, Reuters reported. The situation escalated Thursday evening after exiled royal figure Reza Pahlavi urged citizens to demonstrate, reviving memories of the monarchy ended when his father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in the 1979 revolution.
Trump authorized airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities in June and later warned that the United States would intervene if Tehran used deadly force against nonviolent demonstrators. He reinforced that message on Dec. 29 after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that Washington stands ready to launch additional attacks should Iran attempt to revive its nuclear program.
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