The US Secret Service increased security around former US president Donald Trump after obtaining intelligence in recent weeks of an Iranian plot to assassinate him, according to people familiar with the situation.
The White House declined to comment, but said there were no indications that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected shooter in Saturday’s attempted assassination of Trump, had any foreign or domestic accomplices.
Iran said the accusations against it were “unsubstantiated and malicious”.
The White House contacted the Secret Service about the threat, which conveyed information about the Iranian effort to Trump’s campaign, according to one of the people.
The Secret Service subsequently increased resources and assets to assist in Trump’s protection, the person said.
The Secret Service and its chief, Kimberly Cheatle, have come under intense scrutiny since Trump’s extremely close call in Pennsylvania. Cheatle said in an interview Monday on ABC News that the agency’s failure was “unacceptable” and “something that shouldn’t happen again”.
US President Joe Biden has ordered an independent review of how the gunman could have come so close to killing Trump, and the Secret Service also faces probes from Congress.
Trump took an aggressive stance against Tehran during his presidency, most notably ordering the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in January 2020.
The US said in 2022 that the military group, known as the IRGC, had plans to kill John Bolton, who had served as one of Trump’s national security advisers.
“We have been tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration,” Adrienne Watson, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement.
03:56
Iran vows revenge if US fails to put former president Trump on trial for Soleimani killing
Iran vows revenge if US fails to put former president Trump on trial for Soleimani killing
“These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge” for killing Soleimani, she said.
CNN, which earlier reported the Iranian plot, said that the intelligence on the plan came from a human source.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said in a statement that “these accusations are unsubstantiated and malicious”.
“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,” Iran’s statement said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
