US kills Iranian leader of Trump assassination plot, Pentagon says
The Straits Times
The target, however, was not the initial focus of the war, says US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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WASHINGTON - The US military said on March 4 that it killed an Iranian official who headed a unit behind an alleged assassination plot against President Donald Trump but that the target was not the initial focus of the war.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump and President Trump got the last laugh,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news briefing.
“While that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination – in fact, never raised by the President or anybody else – I ensured, and others ensured, that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list,” Mr Hegseth told reporters.
Mr Hegseth did not name the individual but said the operation took place on March 3.
In 2024, the US Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate Mr Trump, then US President-elect.
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