Hardliners in Iran blast president for denying Trump assassination plot
Iran's ultraconservatives condemned President Masoud Pezeshkian for his comments to NBC News, in which he denied Iran’s intention to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.
Iran's ultraconservatives condemned President Masoud Pezeshkian for his comments to NBC News, in which he denied Iran’s intention to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.
In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Pezeshkian dismissed accusations that Iran planned to avenge the January 2020 targeted killing of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, which Trump ordered. This stance diverges sharply from multiple threats Iranian officials have made against Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Kayhan, a leading ultraconservative newspaper closely associated with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, issued a scathing editorial addressing Pezeshkian directly: “Mr. President, you don’t own Iran.” The editorial argued that Pezeshkian had overstepped his authority and outlined its objections: “First, it is beyond your jurisdiction; second, for reasons we will outline, it is entirely contrary to our national interests; and third, it sends a message of humiliation to the sworn enemy of Islamic Iran.”
Vatan-e Emrooz, another conservative outlet, criticized Pezeshkian for asserting in the interview that Iran had never intended to harm Trump. The paper questioned whether the president had the authority to abandon Iran’s stated commitment to punishing those responsible for Soleimani’s assassination. “No! Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized their determination to punish this criminal murderer, and Iran will certainly take the necessary steps to carry out this punishment,” the newspaper declared.
Iran’s apparent effort to portray Pezeshkian as a moderate and pragmatic leader comes amid deep economic turmoil and major setbacks in Lebanon and Syria last year. The country’s leadership faces mounting pressure to alleviate US economic sanctions, which are critical for the Islamic Republic’s financial survival.
However, Vatan-e Emrooz underscored that Iranian hardliners remain committed to confronting the United States. The paper declared: “Certainly, if legal pursuits prove fruitless and international judicial bodies remain inactive, the broad Resistance Front will place the issue of punishing Trump on its agenda through other means.”
This sentiment echoes a threat issued by former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in January 2022, when he warned, “If Trump and Pompeo are not tried in a fair court for the criminal act of assassinating General Soleimani, Muslims will take our martyr's revenge.”
Both Kayhan and Vatan-e Emrooz reiterated that Pezeshkian had no authority to dismiss Iran’s pursuit of justice for Soleimani’s death. “Neither Mr. Pezeshkian nor anyone else can claim that Iran and the Resistance Front have abandoned the pursuit of justice against Trump and his accomplices for the martyrdom of Haj Qassem Soleimani,” Vatan-e Emrooz warned.
Providing few details, Iran's vice president for strategic affairs said in a preview of an online interview that sanctions on Iran and its allies deepened security challenges and made them vulnerable to Israeli booby traps.
“Our colleagues had purchased a centrifuge platform for the Atomic Energy Organization, and it was discovered that explosives had been embedded inside it, which they managed to detect," he told the Hozour (Presence) online program.
It was not clear when the alleged incident occurred.
A power failure at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment site in April 2021 apparently caused by an explosion was decried by Iran as an act of "nuclear terrorism".
The murky incident was neither fully explained by Iran nor claimed by Israel, which has repeatedly carried out cyberattacks and assassinations aiming at Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran says it is pursuing peaceful nuclear technology, while Israel and the United States believe Iran may ultimately seek a bomb.
Zarif detailed how sanctions compel Iran and its allies to rely on intermediaries, creating vulnerabilities that have allegedly been exploited by Israel.
“Instead of being able to order equipment directly from the manufacturer, sanctions force you to rely on multiple intermediaries for such purchases," Zarif said.
"If the Zionist regime infiltrates even one of the intermediaries, they can do anything and embed anything they want, which is exactly what happened.”
A series of coordinated explosions in Hezbollah's communication devices in September 2024 arose from Israel's diligent infiltration of those suppliers, he added.
“The issue with the pagers in Lebanon turned out to be a multi-year process, meticulously orchestrated by the Zionists."
The September incidents in Lebanon involved the detonation of around 5,000 pagers and 1,000 walkie-talkies, resulting in at least 32 deaths and more than 3,000 injuries.
Though Israel has not taken credit for the attacks, Israeli intelligence operatives appear to have covertly modified the devices, embedding explosives during a decade-long operation involving fake companies and deceptive distribution tactics.
In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suspended communication devices, conducting inspections to prevent recurrence. The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization also banned electronic communication devices, barring mobile phones, on commercial flights.
"These are, in fact, some of the damages caused by sanctions, which have made circumventing them a necessity for us," Zarif said. "In addition to financial losses, there have also been significant security risks.”
