Iran’s authorities say a plot to assassinate the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi days ago has failed and those involved have been arrested [Getty]
Members of an Israel-backed “terrorist cell” allegedly plotting to assassinate Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have been arrested in Iran.
Iranian media reported the development on Thursday, with the foreign minister’s advisor Hossein Ranjbaran announcing that “a major Israeli plot” to assassinate Araghchi had been foiled a few days ago.
The suspected plot came to light days before Araghchi’s planned trip to Geneva on Friday, in a bid to resume diplomatic negotiations with a number of European representatives regarding Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Araghchi is scheduled to hold talks with French, UK, and German foreign ministers, as well as the European Commission’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.
Araghchi has proceeded with his travel plans and headed to Geneva to meet with his European counterparts despite the alleged plot.
Israel has assassinated a slew of prominent Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists in its unprecedented assault on Iran that began at dawn last Friday.
Among the most prominent figures it has succeeded in assassinating are Major General Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC Commander-in-Chief General Hossein Salami, Fereydoon Abbasi, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran; nuclear scientist Mehdi Tehranchi, who was also President of the Islamic Azad University; and Major general Gholam Ali Rashid, head of the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters (one of the command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces).
There have been rumours that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be the next target of Israeli air strikes.
This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
