Tehran: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that Iran “never planned” to assassinate US President-elect Donald Trump during the US election campaign last year. When queried about the supposed plot against Trump identified by US authorities, Pezeshkian described it as “another one of those plots that Israel and other countries are planning to promote anti-Iranianism,” emphasizing that Iran has “never tried or planned to assassinate anyone.”

According to National Iraqi News Agency, the Iranian president made these statements during an exclusive interview with NBC News, marking his first engagement with foreign media following the U.S. presidential election. In the interview, when asked if there was ever an Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump, Pezeshkian firmly responded, “Nothing at all.” He further asserted Iran’s stance by stating, “We never tried to do that and we never will,” when questioned about Iran’s willingness to pledge that it had not attempted to kill Trump.

The controversy stems from charges filed in November by the U.S. Justice Department against an Iranian man accused of attempting to kill Trump when he was the Republican presidential nominee. Additionally, two other men were charged with plotting to murder an Iranian-American journalist and activist critical of the Iranian government’s treatment of women. U.S. authorities have linked these alleged plots to Iran’s purported efforts to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general who was killed in Baghdad in a U.S. drone strike ordered by Trump during his first term in office.