Just days before Donald Trump returns to the White House, Iran’s president reiterated his country’s categorical denial of being part of a plot to kill Trump during his election campaign last year.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made the remarks in his first interview with a US media outlet since Trump survived an assassination attempt last July, and also after the US Department of Justice in November charged a Iranian in connection with a plot to kill Trump the previous month.
Trump won the election on November 5 and will take office next Monday.
“We have never tried this to begin with and we never will,” Pezeshkian said. NBC News in an interview in Tehran on Tuesday.
He went on to say that accusations that Iran tried to assassinate Trump are part of “foreign plots” (referring to Israel and other countries) to “fuel Iranophobia.”
On relations with the United States and the tension with Western countries over the Iranian nuclear issue, along with Trump’s recent threats to increase sanctions and put more pressure on Iran, Pezeshkian accused the United States of having “tried to overthrow Iran.” .
“I hope Trump will work for peace in the region and the world and not contribute to bloodshed or war,” he also said.
Regarding dialogue with the United States and Western countries, the Iranian president said that his country had “fulfilled all commitments” regarding its nuclear program, adding: “But, unfortunately, it was the other party that did not fulfill its promises and obligations. .”
When asked about a possible military attack by the United States and Israel against Iran, he said that Iran “will react to any action” and defend itself, stressing that any attack against Iran would be “harmful for all actors,” not just Iran.
On the issue of ongoing ceasefire efforts in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, Pezeshkian said Iran is doing everything it can “so that peace prevails in the region.”
Recent comments from participants in the ceasefire talks have pointed to a possibly imminent agreement.
Israel has continued its conflict in Gaza, which has killed more than 46,600 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution that He called for an immediate ceasefire.
