Washington: On Thursday, Republican front-runner Donald Trump made reference to the destruction of US foe Iran in a social media post evoking memories of his most explosive outbursts during his time in the White House.
He posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “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!”
During his speech to the US Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned suspected Iranian plots against Trump in a brief video that Trump included with his remarks.
US media said last week that Trump’s security had been stepped up by the US Secret Service many weeks earlier as they learnt of an Iranian conspiracy to assassinate him; this was unrelated to the recent attempt on his life, in which a 20-year-old American opened fire on a campaign event.
According to CNN, Trump’s safety was increased when US officials learned of Tehran’s plot to harm the former president through information gleaned from a “human source.” The scheme was also reported by other US sites.
However, they said it had nothing to do with the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign shooting, where gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire, killing a rally attendee and injuring Trump only slightly.
Long-strained ties between Washington and Tehran came to a head in 2020 when Tehran demanded retaliation for Trump’s presidential decision to kill Revolutionary Guard commander Qasem Soleimani.
According to the US National Security Council, Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials have been monitored for years.
