Israeli intelligence shared with the United States indicates Iran has developed a new plan to assassinate President Donald Trump, marking a significant escalation in longstanding threats against the American leader.
The alleged plot represents an intensification of Iran's repeated vows to retaliate for the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
When questioned about the intelligence, the White House directed inquiries to Trump's public remarks from Wednesday, in which the president acknowledged being targeted by Iranian leadership.
Trump stated that Iranian officials want to eliminate the U.S. leader and described them as "evil, sick people" whose threat must be addressed decisively.
The intelligence disclosure comes amid strategic differences between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Iran policy following last month's conflict.
Netanyahu has advocated maintaining military pressure on Tehran, while Trump has sought to preserve a fragile ceasefire after U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The two leaders spoke Thursday and agreed to continue coordination between their countries, with Trump updating Netanyahu on recent U.S. military activity in the Gulf region.
At the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian mourners chanted for Trump's death and displayed a banner explicitly threatening to kill the American president.
Iran has publicly pledged for years to exact retribution for the killing of Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
