Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York has categorically dismissed accusations of attempting to eliminate critics abroad, calling them "fabrications."
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not harbor any intention or plan to conduct targeted killings or abductions, whether in the West or any other country,” the mission stated on Thursday.
The statement continued, “These fabrications have been propagated by the Zionist regime, the Albania-based Mujahedin-e Khalq terror cult, and certain Western intelligence services, including those of the United States, to distract from the atrocities committed by the Israeli regime.”
The remarks follow an announcement from the US Justice Department on Wednesday, alleging that a Pakistani man has been charged for plotting to assassinate a US official in retaliation for the killing of Iran's top commander, General Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad in January 2020.
The suspect, Asif Raza Merchant, 46, is accused of seeking to hire a hitman to target a US government official or politician.
FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed that the Pakistani national had “close ties to Iran.”