US President Donald Trump has said he has left standing orders for Iran to face unprecedented military retaliation should Tehran succeed in any plot to kill him, according to the New York Post, which spoke to the president on Friday.
Trump told the outlet he had featured on Iranian hit lists for years and warned there would be consequences if such a plot ever succeeded.
He said instructions were in place to strike Iran at a scale never previously seen, should he be assassinated.
“I've been on their list for a long time. That's what we're dealing with,” he said. “… The only thing is, I've left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before.” he told the outlet.
The remarks came days after Israel reportedly flagged a fresh assassination plot to Washington this week, though Trump indicated no new plan had emerged from Tehran, maintaining that Iran has wanted him dead for years.
Separately, CNN reported that Israeli intelligence shared with the US was unspecified and did not amount to a formal plot, but named Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Ahmad Vahidi as wanted dead.
Iran has openly sought Trump's assassination since 2020, when he ordered the strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
There have also been multiple foiled plots against Trump since an assassin's bullet grazed his ear at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally on July 13, 2024.
ALSO READ: Is Iran Plotting To Kill Trump? The Details Of Intel Israel Shared With US
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been on stark display this week during the funeral of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with mourners in Tehran brandishing banners threatening Trump's life.
Iranian state media reportedly featured a eulogy at memorial events branding Trump's actions "despicable" even as the ceasefire holds.
Trump, speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, said Iran's leadership continued to be eliminated regardless of who replaced them.
His comments came days after Trump credited himself with brokering the US-Iran ceasefire, even as fresh strains emerged following Iranian fire on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
ALSO READ: Trump On Target Again? Israel Shares Intel On New Iranian Assassination Plot: Report
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