Georgia's ruling party official slams opposition figures Khidasheli and Kandelaki over “false” claims in Fox News report

Levan Machavariani, the first deputy chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Saturday said that information cited in a Fox News article was provided by two “rootless” individuals and was based on “lies, falsehoods, and emptiness”, naming opposition figures Tina Khidasheli and Giorgi Kandelaki.

The comments follow a Fox News article citing Khidasheli and Kandelaki, which alleged that Iran is using Georgia to bypass sanctions to finance its military activities.

In his remarks, Machavariani noted that the same individuals had previously accused Georgia of helping Russia bypass sanctions. He claimed that the current allegations relate to Iran and were intended to spread similar “false information” about Georgia’s role.

“In this case, we saw information supplied by two rootless individuals, based on lies, falsehoods and emptiness. These are Khidasheli and Kandelaki - people who, incidentally, years ago accused us of being a country that helped Russia bypass sanctions. Today, apparently Iran is the topic, and they were tasked with spreading the same false information specifically regarding Iran”, Machavariani said.

He also referred to earlier claims by Khidasheli, alleging that she had accused Georgia of training terrorists - accusations he said were later withdrawn after the State Security Service summoned her for questioning. Machavariani argued that the statements were “absolutely false and absurd” and accused the two figures of “continuing hostility toward Georgia”, adding that they have “zero trust and rating” among the public.