News / Politics

Iran rejects ‘absurd’ US accusations of meddling in presidential elections

Thursday, 22 October 2020 6:29 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 October 2020 6:46 AM ]

President Donald Trump (L) and Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speak during the first presidential debate.

Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations has dismissed as “malign and dangerous” claims by US national security officials that the Islamic Republic is attempting to influence American voters, stressing that Tehran, unlike Washington, does not interfere in other countries’ elections.

Alireza Miryousefi, the mission’s spokesman, made the remarks in a post on his Twitter account on Thursday hours after Director of US National Intelligence John Ratcliffe alleged that Iran and Russia had obtained voter registration information in an attempt to undermine confidence in the 2020 polls.

Speaking during a news conference at FBI headquarters, Ratcliffe also claimed that Iran was separately behind a series of threatening emails that were found to be sent this week to Democratic voters, which he said were “designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage” President Donald Trump.

He additionally accused Tehran of distributing content including a video implying individuals “could cast fraudulent ballots, even from overseas.”

In response, Miryousefi said the US is desperately trying to question the outcome of its own elections.

“Unlike the US, Iran does not interfere in other countries’ elections. The world has been witnessing the US’s own desperate public attempts to question the outcome of its own elections at the highest level,” Miryousefi tweeted.

“These accusations are nothing more than another scenario to undermine voter confidence in the security of the US election, and are absurd. Iran has no interest in interfering in the US election and no preference for the outcome. The U.S. must end its malign and dangerous accusations against Iran.”

American voters will decide on November 3 whether Republican Trump remains at the White House for another four years or his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, will take office.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that it does not matter for Iran which person or party wins the US presidential race as the winner will have “no other choice but to surrender to the Iranian nation.”

The US under Trump unleashed a so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it left the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the “toughest ever” economic sanctions in order to bring it to its knees, but the country’s economy keeps humming and is getting back on its feet.

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