Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday charged the United States with an assassination plot against him, Fars news agency reported.

"According to reliable information, as I rejected to reside in the green zone during my trip to Iraq, the Americans had planned to kidnap and kill this humble servant of the nation," Ahmadinejad told clergy circles in a meeting in the religious city of Qom in central Iran.

"The plot was neutralized due to a last-minute change of our schedule," Ahmadinejad added, without however elaborating how Iran gained the information of the assassination attempt.

Ahmadinejad was in Iraq last March and according to reports back then, he cancelled a trip to southern Iraqi holy cities of Karbala and Najaf due to security concerns. (dpa)