The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry says the American daily Washington Times should stop publishing fake news and end spreading anti-Iran bigotry despite the fact that it has previously been paid by the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group to circulate certain features.

In a tweet on Friday, Saeed Khatibzadeh said cowardice in assassinating foreign leaders is a trademark of the United States and the Israeli regime and not Iran.

“@WashTimes should know better than to publish #FakeNews & spread anti-Iran bigotry -even though it has featured PAID content by the outlaw MeK terrorist cult,” the Iranian spokesperson said.
Cowardice in assassinating foreign leaders is a US-Israeli trademark; NOT Iranian.@WashTimes should know better than to publish #FakeNews & spread anti-Iran bigotry -even though it has featured PAID content by the outlaw MeK terrorist cult.
Your readers deserve better! https://t.co/f8OrGEu4cmpic.twitter.com/FxuYqbp2IE

— Saeed Khatibzadeh (@SKhatibzadeh) January 1, 2021
He ironically added that the American paper’s readers “deserve better!”

Khatibzadeh’s tweet came after Washington Times on Wednesday distorted remarks by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and falsely claimed that he has issued a death threat against the life of his outgoing American counterpart Donald Trump.

“In a few days, the life of this criminal [Trump] will end and he will go to the dustbin of history,” the paper wrongly quoted the Iranian president as saying.

Addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, President Rouhani described the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani as “an act of revenge” by the US and Israel against the Islamic Republic and other independent nations that foiled the pair’s sinister plots to destabilize the region.
Rouhani added, "One of the effects of the stupid and disgraceful act of assassinating Martyr Soleimani was that Trumpism ended, and in a few days, this murder's mandate is drawing to an end and he will go down into the dustbin of history.”
He said Iran believes that the period after the end of Trump’s mandate would create a “better condition for regional and international stability.”

Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, were assassinated along with their companions in a US terror drone strike authorized by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

The two commanders were highly popular because of the key role they played in eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Presidential Office’s Deputy Chief for Communications and Information Alireza Moezi also rejected the Washington Times’ article and tweeted on Thursday, “It is beneath the dignity of Iranian president to threaten the life of a foreign counterpart.”
It is beneath the dignity of Iranian president to threaten the life of a foreign counterpart. Unlike US regime, Iran does not threaten, nor does it assassinate foreign leaders. President Rouhani clearly said "very soon Mr. Trump’s POLITICAL life will be over."

Stop #fakenews

— alireza moezi (@ar_moezi) December 31, 2020
“Unlike US regime, Iran does not threaten, nor does it assassinate foreign leaders.  President Rouhani clearly said ‘very soon Mr. Trump’s POLITICAL life will be over’,” he added.