US Presidential Elections: Trump Accuses Iran of Plotting to Assassinate Him

Former US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there were "significant threats" to his life from Iran, after his election campaign team announced that US intelligence agencies had warned him of "real and specific" threats from Tehran.

"Major threats on my life from Iran. The entire United States military is watching and waiting," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.

"Iran has taken steps that have not succeeded, but they will try again... I am surrounded by more men, guns and weapons than I have ever seen before," he added.

Trump's post came hours after his campaign team said in a statement that intelligence agencies had warned the former president and Republican candidate for the November elections about threats from Iran to assassinate him.

“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence briefed President Trump earlier today on credible and specific Iranian threats to assassinate him in an attempt to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” campaign communications director Stephen Chung said in a statement.

“Intelligence officials have determined that these ongoing, coordinated attacks have intensified over the past few months, and law enforcement officials from all agencies are working to ensure that President Trump is protected and that the election is free from interference,” he added.

The campaign team did not clarify the details of these accusations, which come at a time when leaders of major countries are trying to prevent the expansion of the scope of war operations in the Middle East due to the escalation of violence between Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, and Israel.

For its part, Tehran rejected the accusations that it was trying to kill Trump, which come about three months after a gunman opened fire on a rally in Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding Trump in the ear.

Days after the July 13 assassination attempt, US media reported that authorities had received intelligence about an alleged Iranian plot against Trump, leading to increased protection for him. Tehran has rejected the “malicious” accusations.

“If they assassinate President Trump, which is always a possibility, I hope America will wipe Iran off the face of the Earth,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network at the time. “If they don’t, American leaders will be seen as cowards + without courage!”

The US National Security Council had previously reported that the agencies had "been monitoring Iran's threats against the previous administration of Donald Trump for years," who ordered the assassination of the former commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad in 2020.

Following the assassination, which was carried out in an air strike near the Iraqi capital's airport, Tehran vowed to take revenge on those responsible for killing its most prominent military leader and one of the architects of its regional policy.

Source: AFP