Esmaeil Baghaei has released a lengthy statement on X, warning that the US-Israel war on Iran “will determine the very meaning of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in our time and for future”, Al Jazeera reports.

“This is a war between professional liars who fabricate justifications for atrocity, and a proud people who defend their homeland and human dignity relying solely on their own strength and resolve,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman wrote.

“This is a war between those whose decisions are shadowed by moral compromise, and those who act with a clear conscience.

“This is a defining struggle for the future of humankind. It will decide whether civilization’s hard-won achievements—human rights, the rule of law, and basic morality—will survive or be swept away.”

He ended by urging those who “reject the path of barbarism and domination” to “find the moral courage to speak, to act, and to stand on the right side of history”.