Former President Donald Trump recently remarked that he acted against Ayatollah Khamenei before the Iranian leader could target him, a reference to thwarted assassination attempts by Iran.
“I managed to get him before he had a chance to get me,” Trump stated in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, while discussing the death of the 86-year-old Iranian Supreme Leader. “They made two attempts. But I was quicker,” he added.
Iran has been vocal about seeking retribution against Trump since 2020, following the US-ordered strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
In a statement last June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that Iran had orchestrated two unsuccessful assassination plots against Trump in 2024.
When pressed for details, Netanyahu confirmed, “Yes, through proxies and their intelligence networks. They have intentions to eliminate him.”
It was reported that an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps instructed Farhad Shakeri to shadow and assassinate Trump during the final weeks of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Shakeri, who previously spent time in US prisons for robbery, told the FBI that an IRGC contact told him to create a plan within 7 days to surveil and kill Trump, according to a criminal compliant unsealed in a Manhattan federal court.
If Shakeri failed to meet the deadline, then the hit would’ve been postponed as the official believed it would have been easier to kill Trump if he lost the election.
Iran dismissed suggestions it was involved in attempts to assassinate US officials.
But, the regime has previously shared a clip that promoted a drone attack on Trump at his Mar-a-Lago golf course.
In the video, a robotic system piloted by Iranian operatives focuses in on Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while they are on the course.
And, a text message from an Iranian operator is sent, which says: “Soleimani’s murderer and the one who gave the order will pay the price.”
The Iranian agents take out both men and the clip ends with the words: “Revenge is Definite.”
Trump revealed he left “very firm instructions” for Iran to be blown up if ever the regime carried out its threat.
“Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up,” he told NewsNation in January.
“I would absolutely hit them so hard. But I have very firm instructions.”
