Trump described the death threats from Iran, his campaign said via Reuters
Written by Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was briefed on Tuesday by US intelligence officials about alleged threats from Iran to kill him, the Trump campaign said.
“President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and direct threats from Iran to kill him in an attempt to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” the campaign said in a statement.
The campaign said intelligence officials had determined that Iranian threats had “increased significantly over the past several months” and that US government officials were working to protect Trump and ensure the election was not affected.
Iran has previously denied US claims of meddling in US affairs. Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York and the ODNI did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.
Earlier this month, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a plot to assassinate an American diplomat in retaliation for the 2020 assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
The accused called Trump as a person who could be attacked but he did not think that this plan was a plan to kill the former president, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Authorities are separately investigating the attempted assassination of Trump at his Florida golf course in mid-September and the July 13 shooting of the Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania. There has been no indication of Iranian involvement in any of this.
US government agencies say last week Iranian hackers sent emails containing material stolen from the former Republican president’s campaign to people involved in Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, part of an alleged effort by Tehran to influence the US election.
Biden stepped aside as a candidate in late July and was replaced by Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who faced Trump in a tight race in the Nov. 5 election.
In August, the United States accused Iran of launching cyber operations against the campaigns of both US presidential candidates. Iran has denied the allegations.
