Iran’s Foreign Ministry has firmly rejected allegations from the United States suggesting that Tehran was involved in a supposed plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, all while calling for better relations between the two countries, according to Reuters.
On Friday, the US Justice Department revealed that it had brought federal charges against three individuals in connection with a foiled Iranian scheme to murder Trump prior to the presidential election held earlier this week.
Legal documents indicated that in September, Iranian authorities instructed one of the accused, Farhad Shakeri, to monitor and ultimately eliminate Trump. The Justice Department added that Shakeri remains at large in Iran.
The two other individuals charged—Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, both US citizens—were detained in New York. They are accused of assisting the Iranian government by surveilling another US national of Iranian descent.
Today, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi took to social media to dismiss the claims, stating, “Now … a new scenario is fabricated … as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy.”
Reflecting on the US election’s outcome, Araqchi commented, “The American people have made their decision. And Iran respects their right to elect the President of their choice. The path forward is also a choice. It begins with respect.”
Araqchi also reiterated Iran’s stance on nuclear weapons, saying, “Iran is NOT after nuclear weapons, period. This is a policy based on Islamic teachings and our security calculations. Confidence-building is needed from both sides. It is not a one-way street.”
Meanwhile, Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, described the assassination allegations as a “repulsive” plot orchestrated by Israel and Iranian opposition groups abroad to “complicate matters between America and Iran.”
Iran has previously vowed to avenge the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, a high-ranking commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
In 2020, Iran issued an arrest warrant for Trump, requesting Interpol’s assistance in his capture over the death of Soleimani.
However, Interpol swiftly rejected Iran’s request, clarifying that its guidelines prohibit any involvement in “political” matters.
In 2022, a video produced by Iranian state media and published on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website depicted an animated assassination of Trump.
{Matzav.com}