ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that allegations Tehran had threatened previous and current United States government officials, including former President Donald Trump, are “ridiculous and completely baseless.”
Iranian foreign affairs ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement that the allegation “was not even worth answering.” He blamed “such claims” on the current political atmosphere in the US, adding they were made with specific political goals.
After Trump said that he had been briefed about Iranian efforts to assassinate him, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Washington is tracking threats out of Iran.
“Look, this is something we’ve been tracking very intensely for a long time - an ongoing threat by Iran against a number of senior officials, including former government officials like President Trump,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC, adding that includes people currently in the administration of President Joe Biden.
The Trump campaign had said in a statement that the Republican presidential candidate was briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence “regarding real and specific threats from Iran.”
The campaign statement added that the threats were intended to “sow chaos in the United States.”
Trump has said at campaign rallies that there have been two assassination attempts on his life. The former president was shot in the ear during a campaign event on July 13 in Pennsylvania, and on Tuesday US federal prosecutors charged a man in Florida for an attempted assassination of a president.
American citizens have been indicted in both incidents. It is not publicly known if they have any connections with Iran.
President Biden’s administration previously has sanctioned individuals for connections to Iranian intelligence agencies, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other groups that Washington alleges have targeted and suppressed political dissidents.
The United States will hold presidential elections in November.
Iranian foreign affairs ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement that the allegation “was not even worth answering.” He blamed “such claims” on the current political atmosphere in the US, adding they were made with specific political goals.
After Trump said that he had been briefed about Iranian efforts to assassinate him, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Washington is tracking threats out of Iran.
“Look, this is something we’ve been tracking very intensely for a long time - an ongoing threat by Iran against a number of senior officials, including former government officials like President Trump,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC, adding that includes people currently in the administration of President Joe Biden.
The Trump campaign had said in a statement that the Republican presidential candidate was briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence “regarding real and specific threats from Iran.”
The campaign statement added that the threats were intended to “sow chaos in the United States.”
Trump has said at campaign rallies that there have been two assassination attempts on his life. The former president was shot in the ear during a campaign event on July 13 in Pennsylvania, and on Tuesday US federal prosecutors charged a man in Florida for an attempted assassination of a president.
American citizens have been indicted in both incidents. It is not publicly known if they have any connections with Iran.
President Biden’s administration previously has sanctioned individuals for connections to Iranian intelligence agencies, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and other groups that Washington alleges have targeted and suppressed political dissidents.
The United States will hold presidential elections in November.
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