Iran president denies plot to kill Trump, calls for him to pursue peace

Interview comes less than a week before Trump, who has previously followed a tough line with Tehran, returns to power.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has denied suggestions that his country plotted to kill United States President-elect Donald Trump after two previous attempts on his life in 2024.

In an interview with US media outlet NBC News aired on Tuesday, Pezeshkian also insisted that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and warned Trump against risking “war”.

The interview with the Iranian president, widely viewed as centrist, was aired less than a week before the inauguration of Trump, who during his first term implemented tough policies against Iran.

Pezeshkian told NBC: “We have never attempted this [the assassination bid on Trump] to begin with and we never will.”

In November, the US Department of Justice charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot by Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate the Republican leader. Law enforcement thwarted the alleged plan before any attack was carried out.

Trump said last year during the US election campaign that Iran might have been behind attempts to kill him.

The 78-year-old who won last year’s US election, and will take office on Monday, survived two assassination attempts during the campaign – one in September while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and another during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Investigators have found no evidence of Iranian involvement in either. Iran has also previously denied US claims of interfering in US affairs, including through cyber-operations.

Calls for peace

Pezeshkian also reiterated that Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and that Tehran is not seeking “nuclear weaponry”.

During Trump’s first term, the US withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal that lifted sanctions on Iran’s nuclear plans in return for oversight.

Trump also threatened during his recent presidential campaign that US ally Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“I do hope that Trump will conduce to peace in the region and the world, not conversely contribute to bloodshed or war,” Pezeshkian told NBC. “We will react to any action. We do not fear war, but we do not seek it.”

Asked about the possibility of talks with Trump, the Iranian president said, “The problem we have is not in dialogue. It’s in the commitments that arise from talks and dialogue that we’ll have to commit to … It was the other party [that] did not live up to its promises and obligations.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reported on Tuesday that ongoing talks with European powers show that they are serious about resuming nuclear programme negotiations.