Iran, accused of planning the assassination of an Israeli ambassador. The US points the finger at the Revolutionary Guards
Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, Photo: Iranian Supreme Leader'S Office / Zuma Press / Profimedia
The United States accused Iran on Friday of plotting to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Mexico, in what would be Tehran's latest attempt to export the conflict between the two countries to another region, reports AFP, taken over by Agerpres.
“The plot has been foiled and does not currently represent a threat,” said an American official on condition of anonymity.
According to the same source, the assassination plot was initiated in 2024 by the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, and was foiled this year.
“It is just the latest episode in a long series of deadly attacks by Iran targeting diplomats, journalists, dissidents and anyone who disagrees with them, which should be a real concern for all countries where there is an Iranian presence,” the US official added. However, he did not provide detailed evidence or explain how the plot was foiled.
American intelligence services had already announced that Iranian agents were looking for targets in Latin America, where the Islamic Republic is allied with the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.
The Iranian mission to the UN, contacted by AFP, declined to comment. As far as he is concerned, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked Mexico. “We thank the security services and law enforcement agencies of Mexico for thwarting an Iranian-led terrorist network that was trying to attack the Israeli ambassador to Mexico,” a brief statement said.
The plan would have emerged after airstrikes attributed to Israel in April 2024 on the consular annex of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, which killed several members of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran, a long-time supporter of the Palestinian group Hamas, has vowed to retaliate and has launched a missile and drone strike against Israel.
Last June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, killing senior officials and scientists linked to Iran's nuclear program, as well as hundreds of civilians. Iran retaliated with missiles and drones launched against Israel. The war lasted 12 days. On the orders of Donald Trump, US forces bombed three major nuclear facilities in central Iran on June 22.
Israeli intelligence has previously accused the Quds Force of plotting against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad. In 2024, Australia expelled Iran's ambassador, accusing him of involvement in two arson attacks – one against a synagogue in Melbourne and the other against a kosher restaurant in Sydney. In 1994, a bomb attack on a building in Buenos Aires that housed several Jewish organizations killed 85 people. Israel claimed at the time that the attack was carried out by Hezbollah at the request of Tehran.
