In November, the Justice Department declared that an Iranian conspiracy to assassinate Trump prior to the presidential election had been foiled.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump declared that he has instructed his advisors to destroy Iran if it kills him.
As he signed an executive order directing the U.S. administration to exert the greatest amount of pressure on Tehran, Trump told reporters, “If they did that, they would be obliterated.” “If they follow my instructions, they will be completely destroyed and nothing will remain.”
Vice President JD Vance would take over as president in the event of Trump’s assassination, and he would not be subject to any directives from his predecessor.
Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials have been monitored by federal agencies for years.
Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed by Trump’s order in 2020.
U.S. officials claim that extra protection was put in place in the days leading up to a July campaign rally in Pennsylvania when Trump was shot in the ear after Iran threatened to kill him. However, at the time, officials stated that they did not think Iran had anything to do with that murder attempt.
In November, the Justice Department declared that an Iranian conspiracy to assassinate Trump prior to the presidential election had been foiled.
According to the department, Farhad Shakeri, 51, was told by Iranian officials in September to concentrate on monitoring and killing Trump. In Iran, Shakeri is still at large.
At the time, Iranian officials denied the accusation, with Esmail Baghaei, the spokesman for the foreign ministry, describing the news as a scheme by groups connected to Israel to complicate relations between Iran and the United States.
Shakeri, an accused Iranian government asset who served time in American prisons for robbery and who authorities claim maintained a network of criminal associates recruited by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire schemes, told investigators of the Trump assassination plot, the complaint said.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, his top aide Brian Hook, and his former national security adviser John Bolton were all threatened by Iran after adopting tough positions against the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration. Trump recently revoked their government security protection.
