Iran’s acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri-Kani has disputed charges that Iran planned to assassinate former US President Donald Trump, only days after an assassin shot him during a campaign rally.
Ali Bagheri-Kani admitted that Iran is still seeking justice for the assassination of IRGC Commander Qasem Soleimani, killed in a drone strike in Iraq ordered by Trump in 2020, through legal channels.
Recent human source intelligence collected by US authorities suggested a possible threat from Iran to Trump. However, there is no evidence to link Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate the former president on Saturday, to the purported plot.
Ali Bagheri-Kani told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria during an interview that
“we would resort to legal and judicial procedures and frameworks at the domestic level and international level in order to bring the perpetrators and military advisers of General Soleimani’s assassination to justice”.
Iranian authorities, both political and military, have continued to issue threats against Trump and his administration to avenge the death of Soleimani, responsible for Iran’s proxies across the region.
In January 2022, Iran’s former President Ebrahim Raisi vowed revenge for Soleimani’s killing unless former US President Donald Trump was put on trial.
Spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, also refuted the claims of Iran’s involvement in any recent armed attack on Trump.
“Iran strongly rejects any involvement in the recent armed attack on Trump or claims about Iran’s intention for such an action, considering such allegations to have malicious political motives and objectives,” Kanaani stated.
The Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations echoed the denials.
In 2022, the US Justice Department announced charges against an IRGC member for allegedly conspiring to kill John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, most likely in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing.
Similar threats have been made against other former Trump administration officials, including Mike Pompeo and Robert O’Brien, who have kept their security details owing to persistent threats.
Soleimani had an important role in Iran’s external military and intelligence operations, which involved hostilities against US forces in the region.
Despite Iran’s denials, the security concerns for individuals involved in the decision to execute Soleimani remain serious, with continued safeguards in place.
