Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently claimed that Iran has “never” tried to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump and that the country, which is currently the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, “never will” plot to assassinate Trump.
During an interview this week with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Pezeshkian addressed accusations by the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. intelligence agencies regarding Iranian assassination plots against the president-elect.
“This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia,” Pezeshkian told Holt. “Iran has never attempted to nor does it plan to assassinate anyone. At least as far as I know.”
In a follow-up question, Holt asked, “You’re saying there was never an Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump?” Pezeshkian responded, saying, “None whatsoever. We have never attempted this to begin with, and we never will.”
According to The Daily Wire, Pezeshkian’s claims come after federal law enforcement officials foiled at least two assassination plots against Trump in 2024.
In November, the U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges against Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian national involved in a plot to assassinate Trump before the 2024 presidential election.
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“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at the time. “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.”
The Daily Wire reported that Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national, was also charged in an assassination plot against Trump last year. The outlet noted that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray claimed the Pakistani national had “close ties to Iran” and had allegedly been sent to the United States to assassinate Trump.
