U.S. and Israel Allege Iranian Assassination Plot in Mexico; Tehran Calls It ‘a Big Lie’

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A high-stakes international controversy erupted on Friday as United States and Israeli officials declared that an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to Mexico had been successfully thwarted, a claim that was immediately and forcefully rejected by both Iran, which labeled it a "great big lie," and the Mexican government, which denied any knowledge of such a threat.

The competing narratives from the involved nations have created a tense diplomatic standoff, casting a spotlight on the long-simmering shadow war between Iran and its adversaries and raising complex questions about the intelligence and security operations conducted on Mexican soil.

According to reporting from the Associated Press, U.S. and Israeli officials asserted that Mexican authorities, operating with critical assistance from American and Israeli intelligence agencies, disrupted a conspiracy to murder Ambassador Einat Kranz Neiger.

The officials, who spoke to the press on the condition of anonymity due to the highly sensitive nature of the intelligence, stated that the alleged plot was first hatched near the end of last year and remained an active threat through the middle of this year, at which point it was successfully neutralized.

While providing assurance that the plot was "contained" and does not pose a current threat, these officials did not offer any specific details regarding how the conspiracy was uncovered or the precise methods used to dismantle it, leaving key aspects of the operation shrouded in secrecy.

The Israeli government was swift to publicly address the matter, issuing a formal statement from its Foreign Ministry that directly accused Tehran of orchestrating the would-be attack.

"We thank the security and law enforcement services in Mexico for thwarting a terrorist network directed by Iran that sought to attack Israel’s ambassador in Mexico," the statement read, as cited by the Associated Press.

The ministry further emphasized its ongoing global security posture, adding, "The Israeli security and intelligence community will continue to work tirelessly, in full cooperation with security and intelligence agencies around the world, to thwart terrorist threats from Iran and its proxies against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide."

This sentiment was echoed by the U.S. State Department, which framed the alleged plot within a broader context of Iranian aggression. "Iran’s international abhorrent plots, aimed at its own citizens, Americans, and citizens of other nations are inconsistent with the behavior of a civilized state," the department declared. "The United States is working with likeminded governments to share best practices and threat information, raise awareness about the issue of Iran’s lethal plots, work together to counter these threats, and hold perpetrators accountable."

However, this narrative of a foiled terrorist plot was flatly contradicted by Tehran.

In a sharply worded social media post, Iran's embassy in Mexico vehemently denied the allegations. According to Agence France-Presse, the embassy posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the claim "is a media invention, a great big lie, whose objective is to damage the friendly and historic relations between both countries (Mexico and Iran), which we categorically reject."

The Associated Press also noted that Iran’s mission to the United Nations stated it had no comment on the matter, presenting a slightly different official posture from the outright denial issued by its embassy in Mexico City.

Adding a significant and perplexing layer to the situation, the Mexican government issued a firm denial of its own, directly challenging the accounts provided by its American and Israeli counterparts. In a brief joint statement released late Friday, Mexico’s foreign relations and security ministries announced that "they have no report with respect to a supposed attempt against the ambassador of Israel in Mexico."

This declaration appeared to contradict Israel’s expression of gratitude to Mexican security services for their role in thwarting the attack. The Mexican statement went on to reaffirm the country's diplomatic and security protocols, with the foreign ministry reiterating "its willingness to maintain fluid communication with all accredited diplomatic representations in our country," and the security ministry reaffirming "its respectful and coordinated collaboration, always within the framework of national sovereignty, with all security agencies that request it.”

The stark discrepancy between the U.S. and Israeli claims and Mexico's official position has created a diplomatic puzzle. The Associated Press reported that the U.S. State Department had no immediate explanation for Mexico’s statement.

In a further sign of the complex and sensitive nature of the situation, a spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Mexico City said in response to the Mexican authorities' denial that the embassy would not have any comment.

Despite the lack of official details on the plot's disruption and the conflicting government statements, one of the anonymous U.S. officials provided the Associated Press with information from intelligence documents that pointed to a specific individual allegedly behind the conspiracy.

According to these documents, an officer in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps named Hasan Izadi, who is also known to use the alias Masood Rahnema, initiated the assassination plot. The intelligence suggests that Izadi hatched the plan alongside other Iranian officials while he was serving as an aide to Iran’s ambassador to Venezuela, a country that has maintained close ties with Tehran.

This allegation, if substantiated, would directly link the plot to a formal branch of the Iranian state, the IRGC, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.

The Associated Press report noted that this latest incident fits into a well-established pattern of accusations from Washington. The United States has long accused Iran of seeking to assassinate current and former U.S. officials as well as Israeli citizens, including alleged plots intended to be carried out on American soil.

This history of mutual hostility and covert conflict forms the backdrop against which these new, and heavily disputed, allegations have emerged, leaving the international community to decipher a complex web of claims, counter-claims, and official denials.

As of now, the public is left with a fractured narrative: a serious accusation of state-sponsored terrorism from two global powers, a categorical denial of a "big lie" from the accused nation, and a statement of complete unawareness from the very country where the dramatic events were said to have unfolded.