Iran has rejected as “absurd and baseless” claims from the United States and Israel that it orchestrated a plot to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico, calling the allegations an attempt to damage Tehran’s diplomatic ties with other nations.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters on Monday that Israel was seeking to undermine Iran’s “friendly relations” with other countries through “fabricated accusations.” He said the allegations were so unfounded that Tehran initially saw no reason to respond formally. “Our embassy stated that we found this allegation so absurd and ridiculous that we did not even think it required an official response,” Baghaei said at a press briefing in Tehran.
Unnamed U.S. and Israeli officials told news outlets last week that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force had planned to assassinate Israeli envoy Einat Kranz Neiger in Mexico. The alleged plot, they said, began in late 2024 and continued into mid-2025 before being contained.
According to the officials, the network posed no current threat, though they did not provide evidence to support the claim.
Following the reports, Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement thanking Mexican authorities for “thwarting a terrorist network directed by Iran that sought to attack Israel’s ambassador to Mexico.”
“The Israeli security and intelligence community will continue to work tirelessly, in full cooperation with security and intelligence agencies around the world, to thwart terrorist threats from Iran and its proxies,” the ministry said.
The Mexican government quickly moved to distance itself from the claims. In a joint statement, the Foreign Relations and Security ministries said they had “no report with respect to a supposed attempt against the ambassador of Israel in Mexico.”
Officials emphasized that Mexico had not taken any steps to disrupt diplomatic relations with any country, including Iran.
In a separate response, Iran’s embassy in Mexico condemned the accusation as “a media intervention and a great lie,” adding that Tehran viewed any attempt to harm Mexico’s interests as contrary to its own.
Baghaei also cited earlier instances where Israel had accused Iran of orchestrating attacks abroad, including a series of anti-Semitic incidents in Australia in 2024.
He referred to testimony before the New South Wales Parliament in October, where Australian police said they had “nil holdings in relation to foreign agents perpetrating these incidents,” rejecting any confirmed Iranian link to synagogue attacks, graffiti, and firebombings in Sydney and Melbourne.
Despite that statement, Baghaei said, Israel continued to insist that Iran was behind the incidents.
The alleged plot in Mexico adds to growing tensions between Iran and Western governments, who have repeatedly accused Tehran of plotting assassinations and kidnappings abroad. In mid-2024, the U.S. and European allies issued a joint statement condemning Iran for what they described as a surge in extraterritorial operations targeting dissidents, journalists, and Jewish community leaders across Europe and North America.
Africa Digital News, New York
