Iran’s President Denies Country Has Repeatedly Tried To Kill Trump

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed in an interview this week that the Islamic regime, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, has “never” tried to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.

Pezeshkian’s claims come despite Iran having attempted at least twice to assassinate Trump last year — both of which were foiled by federal law enforcement.

He made the remarks during an NBC News interview with Lester Holt, who traveled to Tehran for the interview.

“This is another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia,” Pezeshkian claimed. “Iran has never attempted to nor does it plan to assassinate anyone. At least as far as I know.”

When asked if there was ever a plan to assassinate Trump, Pezeshkian claimed: “None whatsoever.”

WATCH:

The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment in November against multiple individuals who were involved in plots to murder an Iranian dissident, two Jewish Americans, and Trump on U.S. soil.

“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.”

CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT

Prosecutors indicted Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran, on multiple charges, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, money laundering conspiracy, conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran.

Shakeri remains at large and is believed to be inside Iran. If convicted on all counts, he could face 100 years in prison.

“Shakeri is an [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] asset residing in Tehran, Iran,” prosecutors said. “Shakeri immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets.”

Prosecutors said that he hired two individuals to kill the Iranian dissident and the two Jewish Americans.

However, with the elections approaching, the IRGC told Shakeri to pause his efforts to kill the dissident and the two Jewish Americans because they wanted him to focus on killing Trump.

“SHAKERI indicated to IRGC Official-1 that this would cost a ‘huge’ amount of money,” the indictment said. “In response, IRGC Official-1 said that ‘we have already spent a lot of money [s]o the money’s not an issue,’ which SHAKERI understood to mean that the IRGC previously had spent a significant sum of money on efforts to murder Victim-4 and was willing to continue spending a lot of money in its attempt to procure Victim-4’s assassination.”

During a meeting in October with the IRGC official, Shakeri was instructed to have a plan in place to assassinate Trump within a week and that if he could not do it, Iran would put the plan on hold because they believed Trump “would lose the election and, afterward, it would be easier to assassinate” him after losing.

Federal authorities arrested Carlisle Rivera, also known as Pop, 49, of Brooklyn, New York; and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, New York, for their alleged involvement in the plots to murder the Iranian dissident and the two Jewish Americans.

“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organization — has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on U.S. soil and that simply won’t be tolerated.”

The other attempt involved a Pakistani national who FBI Director Christopher Wray said had “close ties to Iran” and was allegedly sent to the U.S. to assassinate Trump.

According to court documents, in April 2024, Asif Merchant, 46, who revealed he has a wife and children in both Iran and Pakistan, came to the U.S. after spending time in Iran. He contacted someone about his alleged scheme; that person, who became a confidential source (CS), then contacted the FBI. In early June in New York, Merchant met the CS and outlined his alleged plot to commit a series of assassinations in the U.S.

“Merchant explained that his plot involved multiple criminal schemes: (1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official,” the Department of Justice stated. “Merchant stated that the assassination would occur after he left the United States and he would communicate with the CS from overseas using code words. The CS asked whether Merchant had spoken to the unidentified ‘party’ back home with whom Merchant was working. Merchant responded that he had and that the party back home told him to ‘finalize’ the plan and leave the United States.”

On June 21, Merchant met with undercover U.S. law enforcement officers in New York, giving them $5,000 in advance.

“After Merchant paid the $5,000 to the UCs, one of the UCs stated, ‘now we’re bonded,’ to which Merchant responded ‘yes.’ The UC then stated ‘Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,’ to which Merchant responded ‘Yes, absolutely,’” the DOJ stated.

Merchant was arrested on July 12, 2024, the day he planned to leave the country.