The government of Iran on Monday dismissed as "ridiculous" the accusations against Tehran over a supposed plot to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to Mexico, Einat Kranz-Neiger, after U.S. officials reported a foiled attack and the Israeli government confirmed it. "We consider these allegations so ridiculous that they do not deserve a response," said Esmael Baqaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, who pointed to "similar" accusations in recent months to "damage" relations between Iran and other countries, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr. "Why Mexico was chosen is interesting, given that public opinion in Mexico has expressed protests against the (Israeli) regime for its crimes in Gaza," he stated before noting that Mexican authorities themselves said they had no information about this alleged plot. Baqaei's remarks came after the Iranian Embassy in Mexico maintained on Friday that "the accusation of an alleged Iranian attempt to assassinate the ambassador of the Israeli regime in Mexico is a media invention, a great lie, whose objective is to damage the friendly and historical relations between both countries." "I categorically reject it," he stated on his social media account X, where he emphasized that "it is not the first time they try to damage Iran's relations with other countries through false news." The Secretariats of Foreign Relations and the Interior indicated after the complaints about this alleged plot that "they have no report whatsoever regarding a supposed attack against the ambassador," while showing "their willingness to maintain fluid communication with all accredited diplomatic representations" in the country. The statement issued by Mexico came after U.S. officials consulted by the news portal Axios indicated that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had planned the assassination of Kranz-Neiger, but that Mexican security services thwarted it this summer. Subsequently, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the Mexican security forces "for dismantling a terrorist network directed by Iran that intended to attack the ambassador," while a spokesman for the U.S. State Department stated in statements to the Europa Press agency that "the abominable international plans of Iran, directed against its own citizens, Americans, and citizens of other countries, are incompatible with the behavior of a civilized state."
