TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday denounced allegations by the United States of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, suggesting they were a pretext for further building an international consensus against Iran, state media reported.
“They attempted to find an excuse by raising a meaningless and useless accusation against some Iranian nationals in America,” said the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking in the western province of Kermanshah, where he is on a 10-day official visit.
Iran has vehemently denied involvement in a plot, detailed Tuesday by U.S. authorities, in which a Texas used-car salesman allegedly directed by members of Iran’s Quds Force tried to recruit a Mexican hit man to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir.
The United States has since called on its allies to help increase Iran’s diplomatic and economic isolation, saying Iran’s role in the alleged plot is substantiated by evidence and warrants a strong response.
Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars News Agency as saying that a Western “propaganda war” is being waged against Iran and urging vigilance. He accused the United States of seeking to portray the Islamic republic as a sponsor of terrorism.
But “it didn’t work, it won’t work,” he told a gathering in Kermanshah, state TV reported. He added that the “conspiracy” had failed and would remain “ineffective, like their other measures.”
