Iran Allegedly Tried to Assassinate Donald Trump,Netanyahu Claims

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently asserted that Iran had marked Donald Trump as “enemy number one” and had actively attempted to assassinate the US president. Netanyahu linked these efforts to Iran’s desire for revenge following the 2020 US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and to Tehran’s opposition to Trump’s policies on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national believed to be an asset of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), with plotting to assassinate Trump in 2024. According to the DOJ, Shakeri was instructed by a senior IRGC official in September 2024 to prioritize this assassination plot. He reportedly confessed to FBI agents about his role in surveillance and planning to kill Trump, with funding from the Iranian regime described as “no issue.” Two other men were arrested in the US for related plots, including an attempt to kill Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad, while Shakeri remains at large in Iran.

Trump was briefed on these “real and specific” threats from Iran in September 2024, with his campaign spokesman noting that the threats intensified as the presidential election approached. The Iranian government has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless,” and Iran’s president emphasized that Iran had never contemplated such an assassination attempt and urged Trump to pursue peace instead.

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The claims have sparked debate among US political figures and media, with Republican Senator Ted Cruz supporting Netanyahu’s assertions during a recent interview, while others remain skeptical of the full extent of Iran’s involvement.

In summary, credible US legal and intelligence sources have charged Iranian-linked operatives with plotting to assassinate Donald Trump, supporting Netanyahu’s claim, though Iran denies these allegations and frames them as politically motivated.