Islam Times - South Africa Not Aware of US Allegation against Iran

Islam Times - The Spokesman for South Africa’s foreign ministry Lunga Ngqengelele said US official’s allegation against Iran took Pretoria by surprise.

The spokesman for South Africa’s foreign ministry Lunga Ngqengelele reacted to US allegation regarding Iran’s efforts to assassinate a US diplomat and noted that it took Pretoria by surprise, Bloomberg reported.

“We only became aware of this report this morning,” Lunga Ngqengelele added.

Politico reported on Sunday that Iran is considering an attempt to assassinate US Ambassador Lana Marks to avenge the US’s killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani earlier this year. Intelligence about the alleged threat, which first surfaced in the spring, has become more specific in recent weeks, the news website said, citing an unidentified US government official.

Tehran has categorically dismissed the rumors by American media about the Islamic Republic's plan to "carry out an assassination plot" as revenge for the assassination of its top anti-terror General, Qassem Soleimani.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh deplored such unfounded claims, saying, “We suggest the Americans prevent worn-out tricks to create propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Noting that "such baseless claims are part of the Trump administration's counter-intelligence campaign against Iran," he said, “The US regime's reliance on anti-Iranian accusations and lies in on the threshold of the presidential election, and at the same, its bullying to the UN Security Council to increase pressure on the Iranian people, was predictable.”