Iran's foreign minister warns US of rising economic costs from 'war of choice'
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on after he delivered a speech during a session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, on the sideline of a second round of US-Iranian talks with Washington in Geneva, on February 17, 2026. PHOTO: AFP
The US will face growing economic consequences from its “war of choice” on Iran, the Iranian foreign minister warned on Saturday.
On X, Araghchi said Americans would be forced to bear the rising costs of a conflict with Tehran. “Put aside gas price hike and stock market bubble. Real pain begins when US debt and mortgage rates start to jump,” he said.
He also pointed to growing economic pressures inside the US, saying auto loan delinquencies had already reached a more than 30-year high.
“This was all avoidable,” Araghchi added.
Americans are told that they must absorb rocketing costs of war of choice on Iran.
Put aside gas price hike and stock market bubble. Real pain begins when U.S. debt and mortgage rates start to jump. Auto loan delinquencies are already at 30+-year high.
This was all avoidable. pic.twitter.com/dhjcdzTOHcIran 'remains committed to diplomacy'
Iran "remains committed to diplomacy and peaceful solutions," the country's President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message to Pope Leo XIV, Iranian state media reported on Saturday.
Pezeshkian also expressed Tehran's appreciation for the Catholic leader's "moral and logical stance on the recent military aggressions against Iran," according to the IRNA news agency.
Iran targeted the goals of the US and Israel "within the framework of legitimate defence," the president said, calling on the international community to "act responsibly against America's illegal actions."
US can 'knock everything out in two days' in Iran
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Washington could rapidly destroy Iranian infrastructure, while insisting he had not underestimated Tehran's resilience in the war.
"I didn't underestimate anything. We hit them unbelievably hard," Trump said in an interview with Fox News after he visited China.
He added that the US "left their bridges, we left their electricity capacity. We can knock that all out in two days. Everything."
Trump described repeated breakdowns in diplomacy with Iran, saying negotiations had become unreliable and unpredictable.
"They were going to give us the dust, everything we wanted, and every time they make a deal, they -- the next day it's like we didn't have that conversation, and that's taking place about five times, there's something wrong with them, actually they're crazy," he said.
Trump also framed a possible solution as a choice between escalation and restraint. "It's either going to be violent or not violent, and I far prefer not violent," he said.
When asked about the midterm elections in the US in November, Trump said, "I'm not going to let the election determine what's going to happen with respect to Iran," reiterating his position that Tehran cannot have a nuclear program.
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, triggering retaliation from Tehran against Israel, as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Read: Iran ceasefire a favour to Pakistan's 'terrific people, field marshal and PM': Trump
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. US President Donald Trump later extended the truce indefinitely.