Iranian Foreign Ministry officials on Saturday strongly rejected US accusations of Tehran's involvement in an alleged assassination plot targeting President-elect Donald Trump, while advocating for improved relations between the nations, Reuters reported.
On Friday, the US Justice Department announced federal charges against three people in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill Trump before the presidential election this past Tuesday.
Court documents said that Iranian officials asked one of the men charged, Farhad Shakeri, in September to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Trump. Shakeri is still at large in Iran, the Justice Department said.
The other two individuals facing charges, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt—both American citizens—were arrested in New York. They are accused of aiding the Iranian government by surveilling another US citizen of Iranian origin.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi took to X on Saturday to dismiss the allegations, writing, "Now ... a new scenario is fabricated ... as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy."
Addressing the outcome of the US election, Araqchi remarked, "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."
He emphasized Iran's stance on nuclear weapons, saying, "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."
Meanwhile Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei characterized the assassination allegations as a "repulsive" scheme orchestrated by Israel and Iranian opposition groups abroad to "complicate matters between America and Iran."
Iran has in the past vowed revenge against Trump for ordering the 2020 drone strike in Baghdad which eliminated top Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Qassem Soleimani.
Iran in 2020 issued an arrest warrant against Trump and asked for Interpol's aid in detaining him in the killing of Soleimani.
Interpol swiftly rejected the request, saying its guidelines for notices forbids it from "any intervention or activities of a "political" nature.
In 2022, an animated video published on the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei depicted the assassination of Trump.