Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly planned to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico starting late last year, according to a U.S. official who spoke to Reuters. The official said the plot was contained and “does not pose a current threat,” highlighting it as part of Iran’s broader pattern of targeting diplomats, journalists, dissidents, and political opponents globally. Details about how the operation was thwarted were not disclosed.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry thanked Mexican security and law enforcement services for “thwarting a terrorist network directed by Iran that sought to attack Israel’s ambassador in Mexico.” The Iranian Embassy in Mexico dismissed the allegations as “entirely false,” according to the semi-official Mehr news agency, emphasizing that it respects Mexican laws and interests.
The United States and its allies have repeatedly accused Iran and its proxies of attempting violent attacks against Tehran’s critics. British and Swedish security services warned last year that Iran was using criminal proxies to launch operations in their countries, with the U.K. reporting it had disrupted 20 Iran-linked plots since 2022. MI5 Director General Ken McCallum recently described Iran as “frantically” trying to silence critics worldwide, citing examples from Australia and the Netherlands.
Israel has long been a focus of Iranian targeting, a tension that escalated after Israel’s air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June, which included operations involving U.S. bombers. While Mexico said it had “no information regarding an alleged attack” on the ambassador, the incident underscores ongoing global concerns about Iran’s extraterritorial activities and the security challenges faced by diplomats abroad.
