According to a source with direct knowledge of the correspondence, CBS News confirmed that the US had received written assurances from Iran before the presidential election that its leadership was not actively trying to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump. The message came after the White House confirmed in September that the Biden administration would view the assassination of a former US president or former US official as an act of war.
“We consider this a matter of national and homeland security of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats,” National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement in September.
Iran in its message, which was delivered by a third party, said it understood the premise. wall street journal America was the first to inform about Iran's message
The Justice Department is currently prosecuting at least two individuals who are accused of being part of an assassination plot to kill Trump while he was still a candidate. One operative The man, who worked for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told federal investigators he was tasked with “surveillance and ultimately assassination” in September. trumpAccording to court records unsealed last week.
Farhad Shakeri, who is believed to live in Iran, told investigators in a phone interview that unnamed IRGC officials had pressured him to plan the attack, prosecutors said. trump It is going to happen in October. If the plan could not be completed in time, Iranian officials instructed Shakeri to delay the plot until after the elections because the official “assessed that [Trump] would like lose the election“Charging documents state.
In early August, a Pakistani national with alleged links to Iran was arrested and charged The plot was to carry out a murder-for-hire attack targeting U.S. government officials and politicians, according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday.
A US official said Iran had not tasked its most effective proxy force, Hezbollah, with carrying out these plots. This official described Iran's approach to date as “If it works, it's good. If it doesn't, it's not a problem.”
In response to an inquiry that “Iran told the US it will not try to kill Trump”, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran said it would not comment on official messages between the two countries.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran declares its commitment to pursue the killing of Martyr Soleimani through legal and judicial avenues in full compliance with long-recognized principles of international law,” the mission said in a statement. “
Trump has increased the anger of Iranians for some reasons. He withdrew from the international Iran nuclear deal, which had lifted some sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program. He also directed 2020 air strike that killed Top Iranian commander General Qasim Suleimani. Since then, some Trump administration officials and military officials have received threats from the regime, among them, Robert O'BrienWho was the National Security Advisor during the strike. His predecessor, John Bolton, who was part of the maximum pressure campaign that imposed sanctions on Tehran, has also received threats.
The US intelligence community estimated this in 2022 Iran will threaten The Americans were determined to attack — both directly and through proxy attacks — and develop networks inside the U.S. Two successive threat assessments submitted to Congress by the State Department in January 2022 rated the life of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as “serious.” and credible threat”. and Brian Hook, the Trump administration's former Iran envoy. The non-public assessment revealed that throughout 2021 and again in 2022, the State Department determined that a round-the-clock, US-taxpayer-funded diplomatic security detail was needed to protect both men. That continues even today.
Several former officials have spoken to CBS about the duty-to-alert notices they recently received from the FBI and other agencies about the ongoing threat from Iran and Iranian-appointed actors, implying that the U.S. is under threat. Is taking Irani seriously and is not taking Irani. Government's assurance at face value.
Contributed to this report.
