Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vehemently denied plotting to kill President-elect Donald Trump after the Justice Department in November indicted three people in connection with a murder-for-hire targeting the president.
“We have never tried this in the first place and we never will,” Pezeshikian said. interview NBC News is scheduled to air Wednesday evening.
The leader speculated that Israel or another country promoted the theory to promote “Iranophobia.” Public coverage of Iran's alleged opposition to the new commander-in-chief has soured an already contentious relationship.
Pezeshkian said he was open to dialogue with President Trump during his second administration, but pointed out that the United States has not fulfilled its past commitments.
“The problem we have is not with dialogue,” Pezeshkian told Lester Holt.
“What we must fulfill lies in dialogue and the promises that emerge from dialogue.”
He noted that Iran had previously supported a commitment to freeze its nuclear program, among other demands, to stabilize its position with the West.
“But unfortunately, the other party did not fulfill its promises and obligations,” he said.
“I have a suspicion that no matter how much dialogue and dialogue we have, they are trying to overthrow the government instead of solving the problem.”
President Trump withdrew the United States from a joint agreement restricting Iran's nuclear weapons program in 2018, but President Biden has unsuccessfully tried to reverse that decision.
The former president is currently scheduled to return to the White House on January 20th.
Iran does not want war, but said it is ready to counter any intruders or attacks.
“Of course we react to every action. We are not afraid of war, but we do not want war,” Pezeshkian said.
“We solemnly hope that something like this does not happen, because it would be a disadvantage not only to us, but to all parties involved.”
