Former President Donald Trump has been informed by U.S. intelligence about credible threats from Iran targeting him for assassination, according to a statement from his campaign.
The briefing highlighted “specific and credible threats from Iran aimed at assassinating him in an attempt to destabilize and create chaos in the United States,” the campaign’s statement read.
Details regarding the threats were not further explained, and it remains unclear whether these threats are recent or have been mentioned before.
Iranian officials have not yet responded to requests for comment, though Tehran has consistently denied U.S. accusations of meddling in American domestic issues.
Donald Trump posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that there are “serious threats against my life from Iran.”
“Iran has already attempted actions that failed, but they will undoubtedly try again,” Trump wrote.
He warned that any attack against him would be a “death sentence for the attacker” and expressed his gratitude to Congress for approving additional funding for the Secret Service.
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, noted in a statement, “Intelligence officials have confirmed that these coordinated threats have intensified in recent months.”
“Law enforcement across all agencies is actively working to protect President Trump and ensure the integrity of the election process,” Cheung added.
The BBC reached out to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence for further comment.
These developments follow an assassination attempt on Trump on July 13, during which he was injured and another individual was killed in a shooting at a Pennsylvania rally. Authorities are still investigating the motive.
Shortly after the incident, U.S. media reported that intelligence agencies had uncovered a possible Iranian plot against the former president. Iranian officials denied the accusations, calling them “baseless,” according to reports from CBS, a U.S. partner of the BBC.
“If they succeed in ‘assassinating President Trump,’ which is always a risk, I hope America will completely annihilate Iran—wipe it off the map. Anything less would show our leaders are ‘gutless’ cowards!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform at the time.
Then, on September 15, a Secret Service agent opened fire after spotting a rifle near the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach while Trump was playing golf.
U.S. prosecutors have charged Ryan Wesley Routh with the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate after his arrest near the golf course.
There has been no indication of Iranian involvement in either incident.
Additionally, last month, Trump’s campaign reported a cyberattack on its internal communications, suggesting Iranian operatives were involved.
In 2022, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was charged by U.S. authorities with plotting to assassinate Trump’s former National Security Advisor, John Bolton. The Department of Justice revealed that Shahram Poursafi had offered $300,000 to carry out the killing as retaliation for the U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
