On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump pushed a narrative being spread by US intelligence officials that Iran is trying to kill him even though there’s no evidence of Iranian involvement in either attempt on his life. Trump’s campaign said they were briefed on the alleged Iranian threat by officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is led by Avril Haines. "Big threats on my life by Iran. The entire US Military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again," Trump wrote on X after the briefing. "Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns, and weapons than I have ever seen before."
The claim that Iran is plotting to kill Trump was first made by a CNN report back in July, following the assassination attempt by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot and killed by the Secret Service. The report acknowledged there was no evidence Crooks was linked to Iran, which was reaffirmed on Tuesday by intelligence officials speaking to The New York Times, who stressed there was no Iran connection to the July shooting.
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| Via CNN |
The Times report also said there was no evidence that Iran was connected in any way to Ryan Routh, who was arrested on September 15 and recently charged with attempting to assassinate Trump. Routh is a staunch supporter of the Ukraine proxy war and traveled to the country to help recruit fighters for the Ukrainian foreign legion.
Despite the lack of evidence, Trump suggested at a campaign event on Wednesday that Iran might have been involved in the two assassination attempts. "As you know, there have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve – but possibly do – Iran," he said at an event in North Carolina.
"If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens," Trump added.
The claims about Iran come amid soaring tensions in the Middle East as Israel has dramatically escalated its bombing campaign in Lebanon, a situation that could potentially turn into a full-blown war between the US and Iran. But Iran’s actions over the past year have shown they’re not interested in war with the US.
For example, when Iran launched a reprisal attack on Israel in response to the bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria, Iranian officials said they warned the US 72 hours in advance. The US denied the claim, but Turkey and Jordan confirmed they were given notice, which would have gotten back to the US. Iran and the US also engaged in indirect negotiations in Oman to avoid escalation.
Rep. Mike Lee has reminded the world that Iran's official state channels in 2022 published and circulated a video that depicted an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump while playing golf at Mar-a-Lago...
This was posted on the Ayatollah’s website.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) September 25, 2024
Truly, terrifyingly chilling. pic.twitter.com/VmILkzdIyM
Iran’s new president, Masoud Peseshkian, has also taken an extremely diplomatic tone toward the US since coming into office and wants direct negotiations with Washington. "We are not hostile towards the US. They should end their hostility towards us by showing their goodwill in practice," Pezeshkian said last week. "We are brothers with the Americans as well."
Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) occasionally vow they will take revenge for Trump’s assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who headed the IRGC’s Quds Force. But in response to recent allegations, Iran has said Trump should be punished for the killing in a court of law.
Trump says if he were president, and Iran threatened to harm US leaders, he would be threatening to blow up Iran's largest cities and destroy "the country itself."
What the hell is this? Trump says if he were president, he would be threatening to blow up Iran's largest cities and destroy "the country itself." There is no more overused adjective to describe Trump's rhetoric than "unhinged," but this is genuinely unhinged pic.twitter.com/e9tiu1K12L
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) September 26, 2024
"These accusations are unsubstantiated and malicious," Iran’s mission to the UN said in response to the CNN report in July. "From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice."
