Iran has firmly denied accusations of involvement in a scheme to assassinate former and current U.S. officials, including President-elect Donald Trump, labeling the claims as "entirely baseless."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in a statement Saturday dismissed the allegations levied by the U.S. Department of Justice following the arrest of a suspect.
Baghaei pointed to earlier "similar accusations" that Iran had also rejected, describing the claims as a "repulsive conspiracy" created by Israel and anti-Iranian groups to exacerbate tensions between America and Iran.
The Justice Department has filed criminal charges in a Manhattan federal court against 51-year-old Afghan national Farhad Shakiri, claiming he was instructed by Iran to "conduct surveillance and plan the assassination of former and current US government officials, including President-elect Donald Trump" before the election. Shakeri remains at large in Iran.
The indictment indicates that Shakeri was acting under the direction of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been accused by American officials of orchestrating the plot. Shakeri moved to the U.S. as a child but was deported around 2008 after serving a 14-year sentence for a robbery conviction, according to the Justice Department.
Two other men were arrested on charges that Shakeri recruited them to follow and kill prominent Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has endured multiple Iranian murder-for-hire plots foiled by law enforcement.
American officials have also alleged in a statement that Shakeri in recent months had relied on a network of criminal contacts he made while in prison in the U.S. to assist the IRGC. These associates were allegedly used to provide operatives for carrying out other surveillance and assassination operations in other IRGC-related plots, according to U.S. officials.
Baghaei flatly rejected all the allegations, emphasizing that Iran would utilize "all legitimate and legal means, both domestically and internationally, to protect the rights of the Iranian people."
The case is adding to the mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as the American government accuses the Iranian regime of attempting to carry out various violent acts on U.S. soil.
Even though Trump was allegedly an assassination target of Iran, a spokeswoman for the Iranian government minimized the importance of America's election results, asserting that it "does not matter" who becomes president. Fatemeh Mohajerani emphasized that Iran's policies would remain consistent, regardless of the outcome of the US election.
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was known for his aggressive stance toward Iran, particularly following his administration's decision to unilaterally pull the United States out of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2018. The move significantly heightened tensions between the two nations and marked a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Iran.
One of the most significant escalations came in January 2020 when a U.S. drone strike killed Iran's top military commander General Qassem Soleiman. The assassination of Soleimani, a key figure in Iran's regional influence, brought America and Iran to the brink of military conflict, further deepening the animosity between the two countries.
In September, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that U.S. intelligence had informed him of "big threats" to his life from Iranian agents.
