Trending 
Iran on Wednesday accused the United States and Israel of continuing efforts to overthrow the Islamic Republic and destabilise the country despite ongoing diplomatic contacts to end the war.
In a statement published by Iranian media, the country’s intelligence ministry said Washington and Tel Aviv had failed to achieve their objectives through military action during the recent conflict and were now pursuing alternative strategies to weaken Iran internally.
“The enemy is now pursuing through other means the objective of overthrowing and partitioning the country, which it openly declared at the beginning of the recent war but failed to achieve through military attack,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, intelligence reports indicated that the US and Israel planned to increase economic pressure on Iran, fuel ethnic and religious divisions, and support sabotage operations and other acts described as terrorism.
The ministry also stated that such efforts would include smuggling weapons, ammunition and illegal communication devices, including Starlink satellite internet equipment, into the country.
The accusations came following continued exchanges between Tehran and Washington over a possible agreement to end the conflict that began on February 28 and escalated tensions across the Middle East.
Iran and Israel have for years engaged in a shadow conflict involving covert operations, including alleged sabotage attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and the killing of nuclear scientists.
Relations between Iran and the United States have remained severed since 1980, while Tehran continues not to recognise Israel.
