Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures to the audience after speaking at a campaign rally at Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center in Savannah, Georgia, on 24 September 2024. (Chandan Khanna/AFP)
- US intelligence has warned Donald Trump about specific
threats from Iran, said his campaign. - The threats are part of what is described as ongoing and
coordinated efforts to destabilise the US. - There have also been accusations against Iran for
attempting to hack Trump’s campaign and influence the 2024 election, which Iran
has denied.
US intelligence has warned Donald Trump of “real and
specific” threats from Iran to assassinate him, his presidential campaign
said in a statement Tuesday.
“President Trump was briefed earlier today by the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific
threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos
in the United States,” Trump campaign communications director Steven
Cheung said in the statement.
“Intelligence officials have identified that these
continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and
law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President
Trump is protected and the election is free from interference,” he added.
The campaign did not elaborate on the claims, which come as
international pressure increases on Iran to reduce soaring tensions in Lebanon,
where Israel has carried out a bombing campaign against sites belonging to
Lebanese group Hezbollah which is backed by Tehran.
Iran rejected accusations that it is trying to kill Trump
earlier this summer, shortly after a gunman opened fire at a rally in
Pennsylvania, killing one person and wounding the presidential candidate.
READ | ‘That will be it’: Trump says won’t run again if beaten in November
Days after the 13 July assassination attempt, US media
reported that authorities had received intelligence on an alleged Iranian plot
against the Republican, prompting his protection to be boosted. Iran rejected
the “malicious” accusations.
“If they do ‘assassinate President Trump,’ which is
always a possibility, I hope that America obliterates Iran, wipes it off the
face of the Earth – If that does not happen, American Leaders will be
considered ‘gutless’ cowards!” Trump wrote on his social media platform,
Truth Social, at the time.
It was not immediately clear if the threats referred to by
the campaign Tuesday were new or the threats that had been previously reported.
The United States has also accused Iran of a hack targeting
Trump’s campaign, alleging Tehran is seeking to influence the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, US authorities said Iranian
cyberattackers had offered “stolen, non-public” material from Trump’s
campaign to staff for his then White House rival, Joe Biden.
“Foreign actors are increasing their election influence
activities” as Election Day in November approaches, the US statement said,
singling out Russia, Iran and China as “trying by some measure to
exacerbate divisions in US society for their own benefit.”
The US agencies said the Iranian cyberattackers had also
attempted to share the information stolen from the Trump campaign with US media
organisations. It did not name the outlets.
Iran has also vehemently denied those accusations.
Trump’s presidential rival, Democrat Kamala Harris’s
campaign said on 13 August that it too had been targeted by foreign hackers,
but did not give an indication of which country was believed to be behind the
attempt.
The United States goes to the polls on 5 November. Polls
show Trump and Harris, who launched her campaign after Biden dropped out
earlier this summer, are neck and neck.
