The United States has warned the Iranian government and demanded that it stop all conspiracies against Republican Donald Trump, and said that Washington would consider any attempt to assassinate him an act of war, a US official said on Monday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said US President Joe Biden was regularly briefed on the threats and directed his team to confront Iranian plots against Americans.
The official said that at Biden's direction, senior US officials sent letters to the highest levels of the Iranian government warning Tehran to stop all plots against Trump and former US officials.
The official said that the Iranians were informed that Washington would consider the matter an act of war if any attempt to assassinate Trump was carried out.
Iran denied interfering in American affairs. Tehran, in turn, says Washington has interfered in its affairs for decades, citing events ranging from a 1953 coup against the prime minister to the 2020 killing of its military commander in a US drone strike.
In January 2020, Trump ordered a US airstrike that killed the then Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, after receiving intelligence that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on US diplomats and US armed forces in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. .
Trump, a Republican, is now seeking to return to the White House after losing the 2020 elections to Biden. Trump is now locked in a battle against Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the November 5 elections.
His campaign said on September 24 that US intelligence officials briefed Trump on the alleged threat from Iran.
The White House said that the United States has been closely monitoring Iranian threats against Trump for years, and warned of “serious consequences” if Tehran attacks any American citizen.
He added: “We consider this a matter of national and internal security of the highest priority, and we strongly condemn Iran for these brazen threats. If Iran attacks any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who have previously served, Iran will do so.” “They will face severe consequences,” said Sean Savitt, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
He said, “The relevant agencies continuously and promptly provide the former president's security details with advanced threat information.”
“In addition, President Biden reiterated his directives that the United States Secret Service receive all the resources, capacity, and protective measures necessary to confront these evolving threats to the former President,” Savitt said.