US says Iranian plot to kill Trump unrelated to Pennsylvania shooting: Report
US intelligence agencies have been tracking a potential assassination plot from Iran against former President Donald Trump, several American news outlets reported on Tuesday, in what is believed to be a separate threat from the shooting that injured Trump this past weekend.
The New York Times and CNN both reported on the possible Iranian threat and said the information about the plot was relayed to the Trump campaign before Saturday's shooting.
Middle East Eye reached out to the White House, Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
A White House official told The New York Times that many of the threats against members of the previous Trump administration stem from Trump's targeted assassination in 2020 of top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
“As we have said many times, we have been tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration,” Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement provided to The New York Times.
“These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority.”
The Trump administration took a hawkish approach to its Iran policy, exiting the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposing wide-ranging sanctions on the country.
In addition to killing Soleimani, the Trump administration also labelled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation.
The US has accused Iran of plotting to kill several of Trump's top officials since they left office. In 2022, the US Justice Department said that a member of the IRGC offered someone $300,000 to kill former national security advisor John Bolton.
At the time, a source close to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Axios that Pompeo was told he was also a target of that same plot, and the IRGC member offered a $1m prize for the official's death.
Watson said the Iranian plot was not related to the assassination on Saturday, when a shooter fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally, with one bullet grazing the former president's ear and wounding him.
“The investigation of Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Trump is active and ongoing,” she told The New York Times. “At this time, law enforcement has reported that their investigation has not identified ties between the shooter and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic.”
The Iranian plot prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the rally in Pennsylvania, according to the newspaper's report.
The Secret Service has been criticised for its preparation in the run-up to the attempted assassination of Trump.
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