Iran president claims US assassination plot
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - June 19, 2008 The president told a meeting of clerics in the central city of
Qom that Iran's "enemies" planned to kill him when he went to
Baghdad in March, according to the president's Web site. Iranian
leaders usually use the term "enemies" to refer to Western
nations and the United States in particular.
The report on the presidential Web site did not specify the
United States as the source of the plot. But state television
reported that Ahmadinejad had "unveiled a shocking story" - that
"Americans had intended to kidnap him during his trip to Iraq."
Ahmadinejad said the plot was never carried out because of
"intentional" last-minute changes in his schedule during the
visit, the Web site said. He said the conspirators learned about
the changes after he left Iraq.
Ahmadinejad's trip to Baghdad was the first by an Iranian leader
since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, a sign of the close ties
between Tehran and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
During his visit, Ahmadinejad did not stay in the heavily
fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy
are centered and where most visiting dignitaries reside. Instead,
he stayed in a compound that includes the home of President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, and Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of Iraq's largest
Shiite party, both of whom have strong ties to Tehran, the security
official said. His security was provided by members of the Shiite
Badr Movement, close to al-Hakim, and Kurdish peshmerga fighters,
instead of army or police, the official said.
Iran and the U.S. have no diplomatic relations since shortly
after the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy by militant students
who held American hostages for 444 days.
Tensions have been high between Washington and Tehran over U.S.
accusations that Iran aims to build a nuclear weapon and that it is
financing and arming anti-U.S. Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran denies
both charges.