Trump's call for regime change is 'mission impossible,' Iran's foreign minister says

FIRST ON NBC NEWS Middle East Conflict Trump's call for regime change is 'mission impossible,' Iran's foreign minister says Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know,” Abbas Araghchi told NBC News. Add NBC News to Google Iranian foreign minister: Iran's supreme leader is still alive 'as far as I know’ 01:55 Get more news on Share Add NBC News to Google Feb. 28, 2026, 1:27 PM EST By Henry Austin Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 Changing the Iranian regime is “mission impossible,” the country’s foreign minister told NBC News, hours after the U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on the Islamic Republic and President Donald Trump called on its citizens to overthrow their leaders. “You cannot do regime change while millions of people are supporting the so-called regime,” Abbas Araghchi said in an interview from the capital Tehran. He said that “as far as I know,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is alive, although the 86-year-old’s whereabouts are unknown after Israel targeted the country’s political leaders. On Thursday, a team of Iranian negotiators were talking with U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, in Geneva, Switzerland, with the aim of averting a potential military assault, “and a deal was at our reach,” Araghchi said. “We were able to address serious questions related to Iran’s nuclear program. We obviously have differences, but we resolved some of those differences, and we decided to continue in order to resolve the rest of questions,” he said, adding he didn’t know why while the talks were progressing “they decided to attack us.” Other senior officials in the regime had survived, Araghchi said, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, the head of the judiciary and the parliament speaker. Two commanders were killed. The strikes, during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, came weeks after a U.S. military operation that captured ...