US President Donald Trump has said that Iran tried to kill him at least twice during the election campaign, writes the US media ABC News.
Shortly after the announcement on the 1st of March that the Iranian religious leader had been killed in strikes, Trump said that he had reached Khamenei before the Iranian could reach him. The US president emphasized that Iran had tried to kill him twice, referring to assassination attempts during the 2024 election campaign. At the time, US intelligence believed that Iran was trying to kill Trump. Iran’s plans were not related to attacks on Trump in Pennsylvania or Florida, but at that time the presidential candidate was still informed of the potential threat.
Trump said on the 1st of March that the military operation against Iran was an unprecedented success –
no one else could have done it, and everyone knows it.
His decision to launch an attack on Iran, despite progress in talks over Tehran’s nuclear program, was based in part on the successful operation in Venezuela, which captured its president, Nicolas Maduro, and the successful strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. He added that a year ago, a deal with Iran would have been a great success, but now “we are spoiled.”
Before the strikes on Iran, the Trump administration had identified potential Iranian leaders who could replace Khamenei, but they were all dead, Trump said. The Israel Defense Forces reported that about 40 senior Iranian officials were killed in the strikes, along with Khamenei.
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