Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized “malicious” reports that Tehran is plotting an assassination against former President Trump, following reported claims by the Biden administration that the former president’s security was increased amid threats to his life from Iran.
Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that the Iranian government is committed to pursuing legal action against Trump over the 2020 U.S. strike killing Qasem Soleimani, the top general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
“However, it strongly rejects any involvement in the recent armed attack on Trump or claims about Iran’s intention for such an action, considering such allegations to have malicious political motives and objectives,” Kanaani said in a statement.
The Biden administration reportedly increased Trump’s security detail in recent weeks amid intelligence that Iran was plotting to kill the former president. The Biden administration has maintained security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former special representative for Iran Brian Hook, over threats from Iran to kill the men in retaliation for Soleimani’s killing.
CNN first reported on the intelligence surrounding the Iranian plot.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by The Hill.
Trump was injured after being hit in the ear by a bullet from a shooter at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday in an apparent assassination attempt.
The 20-year-old shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, is not believed to be connected to an Iranian plot, and any motives remain unknown.
But Iran has also been involved in plots to kill other American citizens.
In January 2023, the Department of Justice announced it had disrupted an Iranian government assassination plot against a U.S. citizen who is outspoken and critical about Tehran’s human rights abuses.