SAEDNEWS: Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi called the reported $40 million bounty “propaganda,” insisted that “Death to America” refers to U.S. policies—not its people—and affirmed that Iran has no policy to assassinate anyone abroad, let alone a foreign president.
According to Saed News, in the politics section on Tuesday, 31 Tir 1404 (News Code ID 459689), Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said: “I think all this is propaganda. We have always said—and this has been reiterated many times by the Leader and other official authorities—that the slogan ‘Death to America’ actually refers to the United States’ policies, not to the American people.”
According to the political service of Saed News, Araqchi added: “We have no policy to assassinate anyone abroad, let alone the president of another country.”
In response to a Fox News host’s question—asking whether Iran is currently trying to kill President Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton, or other Trump administration officials following the killing of Qassem Soleimani—he replied, “No. We have never said such a thing. Perhaps some individuals here and there have spoken along those lines, but this has never been Iran’s official position.”
According to Fars, the Fox News anchor went on to note that Ayatollah Khamenei’s slogan “Death to America” must therefore mean “Death to Trump,” and that an Iranian crowdfunding campaign called “Blood Pact” claims to have raised funds for a $40 million reward on Trump’s head—efforts that followed death sentences issued against Trump by various media outlets or government-affiliated bodies. He argued that these signals explain why the U.S. government interprets them as evidence of an assassination plot.
Araqchi reiterated: “I think all this is propaganda. We have always said—and this has been repeated many times by the Leader and other official authorities—that the slogan ‘Death to America’ actually refers to U.S. policies, not to the American people. Extremist individuals or groups, whether inside or outside Iran, may make radical statements such as the ones you mentioned, but this has never been, is not, and will not be the official policy of the Islamic Republic.”
He concluded: “We have no policy to assassinate any individual abroad, let alone the president of another country.”
He also stated: “Iran’s policy has never been to erase Israel from the map of the world.”
