Iranian authorities have denied involvement in plots to assassinate American President-elect Donald Trump.
In a statement on Saturday, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Missions, Esmaeil Baghaei, “categorically dismissed allegations that Iran was involved in attempts to assassinate former and current U.S. officials and described the claims as completely baseless and rejected.”
Mr Baghaei said the recent report linking Iran to plots to assassinate Mr Trump is “a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the U.S. and Iran.”
He added, “the Islamic Republic of Iran, as has previously stated, remains committed to utilizing all legitimate and legal means at both domestic and international levels to restore the rights of the Iranian nation.”
This follows a criminal complaint filed in a federal court in New York City alleging that an unnamed official from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps instructed Farhad Shakeri, 51, an Iranian national, to “focus on surveilling, and ultimately, assassinating, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump.”
“The charges announced today,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray, “expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump.”
In July, U.S. intelligence agencies said there was an Iranian plot to assassinate Mr Trump in revenge for Qassim Suleimani’s killing.
Mr Suleimani, an Iranian security and intelligence commander, was killed by U.S. forces in 2020 under Mr Trump’s watch in response to the deaths of U.S. troops.
