The US authorities earlier charged a Tehran resident with laying the groundwork for an assault on the president-elect
Iran has denied US accusations that it tried to orchestrate a plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump earlier than the November election. It has dismissed the allegations as a hoax orchestrated by pro-Israel actors in a bid to exacerbate tensions between Washington and Tehran.
On Friday, the US Division of Justice claimed that Iranian officers had requested a person named Farhad Shakeri to “present a plan” to kill Trump, including that he was additionally tasked with finishing up assassinations of US and Israeli residents contained in the US. Shakeri was described as an Afghan nationwide residing in Tehran after being deported from the US in 2008 following a prolonged jail sentence for theft.
The indictment additionally implicated two Americans, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, who had been accused of serving to Tehran observe a US citizen of Iranian origin. “The costs introduced right this moment expose Iran’s continued brazen makes an attempt to focus on US residents, together with President-elect Donald Trump, different authorities leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in a press release.
On Saturday, the spokesperson for the Iranian Overseas Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, categorically rejected the accusations, calling them “utterly baseless.” “Such claims at this juncture [are] a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed toward additional complicating the problems between the US and Iran,” he added.
Baghaei additionally recalled that Iran had denied comparable “false” allegations up to now. He was apparently referring to an indictment by the US Division of Justice from August by which a Pakistani nationwide was accused of being despatched to the US by Iran to hold out murders. One of many deliberate assaults was allegedly aimed toward Trump.
Trump was the goal of two assassination makes an attempt this 12 months previous to the election. The primary one occurred in July when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened hearth on him at a Pennsylvania rally, with one bullet grazing Trump’s ear. The would-be murderer was killed on the spot by the Secret Service.
The second incident befell in September, when a suspect recognized as Ryan Wesley Routh allegedly tried to assassinate Trump at his Florida golf course however was intercepted by safety.
You may share this story on social media:
