The United States says it has killed an Iranian leader believed to be responsible for an attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday at the Pentagon: “Iran tried to kill President Trump, but President Trump had the last laugh.” He did not explain who the person killed was.
Hegseth, who calls himself the “Minister of War,” said that the person responsible was at the head of a unit that was supposed to carry out the attack. The United States had long been aware of such plans against Trump and possibly other US representatives.
Trump justified the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday with, among other things, such attack plans. “I caught him before he caught me,” the US president said of Khamenei. The right-wing populist emphasized that Iran had “tried twice” to kill him.
US officials see the alleged attack plans as attempts by Iran to avenge the death of the influential Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. On Trump’s orders, the USA killed him with a drone in Iraq in January 2020.
