Iran responds to claims of Iranian linked to Trump assassination attempt, Arugam Bay attack plot

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has responded to U.S. charges that Tehran was linked to an alleged plot to kill Donald Trump and tasked with targeting Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka while calling on for confidence-building between the two hostile countries.

“Now ... a new scenario is fabricated ... as a killer does not exist in reality, scriptwriters are brought in to manufacture a third-rate comedy,” Araqchi said in a post on X.

He was referring to the alleged plot which Washington said was ordered by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, who won Tuesday’s presidential election and takes office in January.

“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,” Araqchi said.

“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,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that the claim was a “repulsive” plot by Israel and the Iranian opposition outside the country to “complicate matters between America and Iran”.

Iranian analysts and insiders have not dismissed the possibility of a detente between Tehran and Washington under Trump, although without restoring diplomatic ties.

“Iran will act based on its own interests. It is possible that secret talks between Tehran and Washington take place. If security threats against the Islamic Republic are removed, anything is possible,” Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said this week.

While facing off against arch-foe Israel, Iran’s clerical leadership is also concerned about the possibility of an all-out war in the region, where Israel is engaged in conflicts with Tehran’s allies in Gaza and Lebanon.

A 51-year-old Iranian national charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for attempting to assassinate Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, was implicated in a plot to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka, according to the US Department of Justice.

Farhad Shakeri, faces criminal charges for his alleged role in a conspiracy to kill Trump. The FBI stated that Shakeri, who is reportedly an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is at large and is believed to be residing in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

In addition to the Trump assassination plot, Shakeri was alleged to have been tasked by the Iranian armed forces to carry out attacks against Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. US authorities say Shakeri was involved in planning a mass shooting targeting Israeli nationals at a tourist spot in Sri Lanka, which allegedly was scheduled to be executed in October 2024.

--With agencies inputs