Tehran – An Iranian lawmaker says the US seeks to divert public attention from its growing domestic issues by leveling accusations of an Iran-backed plot to assassinate the Saudi envoy to Washington.
Head of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi described the alleged Iranian scheme to assassinate Saudi diplomat Adel Al-Jubeir on US soil as a “ridiculous scenario,” IRNA reported on Thursday.
Boroujerdi said American statesmen have created the recent media hype in an attempt to divert attention from US economic woes, the protest rallies against poverty, unemployment, corporatism and social inequality in the country as well as Washington's dwindling influence in the Middle East and North Africa following the recent popular uprisings.
The senior lawmaker dismissed Washington's latest anti-Iran claims, reiterating that advocating acts of terror run counter to the principles and values of the Islamic Revolution.
He added that as a one of the victims of terrorism Iran is on the front line of fighting terrorism.
On Tuesday, the US Justice Department accused Iran of involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Washington with the help of a suspected member of a Mexican drug cartel.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast swiftly rejected the accusation, saying such 'ludicrous' claims hinged on the hostile joint stances adopted by the US and Israel against the country.
Iran's envoy to the UN, Mohammad Khazaei, has also filed a complaint against the United States and described the anti-Iranian allegations as an “insult to the intelligence” of the people of the world.
“We are used to the baseless allegations made by some US officials over the past three decades, but the big lie they have told today is so unfounded that it sounds like the work of Hollywood's scenario writers,” Khazaei said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
“It is a major insult to the intelligence of ordinary people in the US and the world,” he added.
The latest accusations come as the United States and its staunch ally Israel has devised numerous anti-Iran plots over the past years, including the targeted assassination of Iranian scientists.
