Iran: Israel planned to assassinate Ahmadinejad

Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said on Friday that Israel had planned to assassinate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad around the time of last month's presidential election.

The Fars news agency quoted Ejeie as saying that Israeli officials had met members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), to execute the plan.

"The Zionist regime had met with the hypocrite group (the term Iran uses for the PMOI) on the sidelines of (a meeting in) Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and in Paris to assassinate Mr. Ahmadinejad," Ejeie said.

But the PMOI set some conditions for the job, he said.

"The hypocrites set some conditions for this job and asked that the US and others remove their name from the (terror) blacklist," Ejeie said.

"The enemies even approached the rebels in east of the country to achieve this aim," he added, referring to Sunni rebels who are engaged in a rebellion against Iran's Shiite government.

Ahmadinjead was re-elected on June 12 to new four-year term.

This is the second time since the elections that the Iranian Intelligence Ministry is making serious allegations against Israel. Several days after the vote, the country's media reported, based on information from the ministry, that on election day Iran's security forces foiled a terrorist plot involving Israel to plant bombs in mosques and other crowded places.