Araghchi says officials and footballers defend Iran's dignity
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the country's officials, negotiators and footballers are all engaged in defending the honour and dignity of the Iranian people, sharing a social media post that combined images of schoolgirls killed in a February strike with scenes from the World Cup.
"From the football pitch to the negotiating table to the battlefield, every step we take as Iranians is part of a larger struggle: defending the honor and dignity of our dear people," Araghchi wrote.
The post came as mediators reported progress in US-Iran talks in Switzerland and after Iran drew with Belgium in a World Cup group-stage match.
Araghchi also referenced the victims of the missile attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Girls' School in Minab on 28 February, in which about 160 people, most of them schoolgirls and teachers, were killed.
From the football pitch to the negotiating table to the battlefield, every step we take as Iranians is part of a larger struggle: defending the honor and dignity of our dear people.#Minab168 pic.twitter.com/CFZ6EbYo49
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 22, 2026