Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vehemently denied any plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump following the Justice Department’s November charges against three individuals involved in a murder-for-hire case targeting the Republican.
“We have never attempted this to begin with and we never will,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with NBC News set to air on Wednesday evening.
The leader speculated Israel or another country promoted the theory to spur “Iranophobia.” The public coverage of Iran’s alleged opposition to the new commander-in-chief has soured an already contentious relationship.
Pezeshkian said he’s open to dialogue with Trump during his second administration but noted the United States hasn’t followed through on past commitments.
“The problem we have is not in dialogue,” Pezeshkian told Lester Holt.
“It’s in the commitments that arise from talk and dialogue that we’ll have to commit to.”
He noted that Iran previously upheld their promise to freeze nuclear programs amid other requests in an effort to stabilize their standing with the West.
“But unfortunately it was the other party that did not live up to its promises and obligations,” he stated.
“We have this doubt that, no matter how much we engage in conversation and dialogue, they are trying to topple the government, not solve the problems.”
Trump withdrew the U.S. from a combined deal to limit Iran’s nuclear weapon developments in 2018, a decision that President Biden unsuccessfully sought to overturn.
The former president is now set to return to the White House on Jan. 20.
Iran said they are not looking for war but remain prepared to push back on any intruders or attacks.
“You see, naturally enough, we will react to any action. We do not fear war, but we do not seek it,” Pezeshkian said.
“I solemnly hope that this will not transpire because it will be to the detriment of all the actors, not only and merely us.”
