Iran's foreign minister says Tehran means Gulf neighbors no harm

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is sending a blunt message to the Gulf: Tehran isn't looking for a fight. In an interview with Al Jazeera published Tuesday, he said Iran has no hostility toward the Gulf Cooperation Council states and intends to keep up diplomatic engagement with its neighbors, Saudi Arabia among them.

Araghchi name-checked Qatar and Oman, crediting both for their work in regional diplomacy. His pitch went further than handshakes, though — he described a goal of building what he called new regional security arrangements, run by the countries of the region themselves and free of any foreign military presence.

That framing puts the emphasis on local actors settling local disputes, a longstanding theme in Iranian messaging toward the Gulf. The comments land as a public signal of openness rather than a policy shift on its own.

Separately, Araghchi addressed the status of Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. He said public appearances and statements from the leader are being withheld because of security concerns, and that Khamenei's whereabouts are being kept secret as well, according to Breaking The News.

Both threads — the outreach to Gulf capitals and the silence around Iran's top figure — come from the same interview, painting a picture of a leadership courting its neighbors while keeping its own house off the map.