Iran has strongly rejected fresh allegations from the United States and its allies that it has been involved in orchestrating assassination and abduction plots against dissidents, journalists, and officials across Europe and North America.
In a statement released on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei denounced the accusations as “baseless,” describing them as part of a broader campaign to distract global attention from what he called “the genocide in occupied Palestine.”
Baqaei asserted that the charges form part of a “malicious Iranophobia campaign” designed to vilify Iran and isolate it diplomatically.
The rebuke came in response to a joint statement released on Thursday by over a dozen Western governments, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
In the statement, the governments condemned “the growing number of state threats from Iranian intelligence services in our respective territories.”
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“We are united in our opposition to the attempts of Iranian intelligence services to kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America in clear violation of our sovereignty,” the joint declaration read.
It further alleged that Iranian operatives have begun working more closely with international criminal networks to target not only Iranian dissidents but also journalists, Jewish communities, and former Western government officials.
While Iran has long been accused of targeting opposition figures living in exile, this latest coordinated accusation by multiple Western powers represents a significant escalation in diplomatic rhetoric.
It also follows a pattern of rising tensions between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme, regional policies, and its outspoken stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Baqaei, however, insisted that the narrative being pushed by Western nations is aimed at shifting global attention away from Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza, which Iran and several other countries have described as war crimes. “These are blatant fabrications meant to shield the Zionist regime from global outrage,” he said.
