Iran Breaks Silence on Trump Assassination Attempt Claims

By Maya Mehrara

Iran has broken its silence on accusations that an Iranian man was involved in a murder-for-hire scheme to kill newly reelected president Donald Trump.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, denied the allegations, writing on X: "Remember the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran right after our President's inauguration? Everyone knows who did it and why. Now, with another election, a new scenario is fabricated with the same goal: as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy. Who can in their right mind believe that a supposed assassin SITS IN IRAN and talks online to the FBI?!

"Here is a dose of reality worthy of consideration: 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. 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."

Reports of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump surfaced on November 8, shortly after his election victory, making this the president-elect's third assassination attempt in five months.

Newsweek reached out to the Iranian embassy in London for comment via email, and also to the Trump campaign outside of normal business hours.

The Department of Justice reported that 51-year-old Farhad Shakeri said he was instructed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to kill Trump on October 7.

Shakeri's assignment was allegedly part of a larger mission to assassinate American and Israeli citizens in the U.S., and he was charged with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, money laundering conspiracy, conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and sanctions against the Government of Iran, along with two others.

Trump took to Truth Social to comment on relations between himself and Iran at the end of September and wrote: "Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire U.S. Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn't work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before."

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Islamic Republic of Iran, also denied the accusations and described the claims as "completely baseless and rejected."

He noted that there have been similar claims in the past, which he said have been proven false, and he reportedly emphasized that "repeating such claims at this juncture is a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the U.S. and Iran."

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said the U.S. presidential election is not important to Iran, according to Iran International.

In response to Trump's victory last week, Pezeshkian said: "It does not matter to us who won the U.S. election because our country and system rely on our internal strength and a proud, great nation."

Trump has previously said that he would like to be friendly with Iran, but he will not allow them to have nuclear weapons.