A threat from Iran prompted the US Secret Service to boost protection around Donald Trump before Saturday’s attempted assassination of the former president, though it appears unrelated to the rally attack, according to two US officials.
Upon learning of the threat, the Biden administration contacted senior officials at the Secret Service to make them aware, the officials said, adding it was shared with the lead agent on Trump’s protection detail and the Trump campaign. That prompted the agency to surge resources and assets. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations dismissed the allegations as “unsubstantiated and malicious”.
The additional resources did not prevent Saturday’s attack at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania that left Trump injured to the ear, killed one rallygoer and severely injured two more when a 20-year-old with an AR-style rifle opened fire from a nearby rooftop.
“As we have said many times, we have been tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration,” said the national security council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson. “These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority.
“At this time, law enforcement has reported that their investigation has not identified ties between the shooter and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic,” Watson added.
Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, who led the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force, in 2020. He reportedly later told friends that he was afraid Iran would try to assassinate him in revenge.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations said: “From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani. Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”
In 2022, the US charged an alleged member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) with attempting to hire a hitman for $300,000 to kill John Bolton, the former national security adviser in the Trump administration.
The Department of Justice said Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, offered the money in November 2021 to an unidentified person in the US to “eliminate” Bolton, apparently to avenge the drone killing of Suleimani.
Poursafi is alleged to have said that after Bolton was killed, there would be another job, for which the hitman would be paid $1m.
When Poursafi’s indictment was unsealed in August 2022, Iran denied the allegations.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting
