Iran Ayatollah rejects US claims of Saudi ambassador plot

15/10/11 15:53 CET

world news

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Iran’s Supreme Leader has dismissed allegations that two Iranians were involved in an assassination plot as ‘meaningless’.

Addressing a crowd in the western province of Kermanshah, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hit back at the United States, saying this was not the first time the US government had tried to isolate Iran by linking it to terrorism. The Ayatollah described the plan allegedly uncovered by authorities in America on Tuesday as ‘nonsensical’ and said the US had ‘repeatedly hatched such conspiracies’ against Tehran.

Tensions are rising between Iran and Saudi Arabia since America accused two Iranians of planning to blow up the Saudi embassy in Washington and kill its ambassador. Washington’s Israeli embassy was also believed to be a target.

Two men have been charged in a US federal court

in connection with the plot. One of them is an American-Iranian who has lived in Texas, and was arrested as he re-entered the country.

The plot is being linked to the Iranian Quds Force, a special unit of the Revolutionary Guard that reports directly to the Supreme Leader, leading to protests outside Iran’s UN mission in New York.

More about: Diplomatic tension, Iran, Saudi Arabia, USA

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