The US authorities say they have foiled a plot to assassinate US politicians, allegedly directed by Iran. A Pakistani has been arrested in connection with the assassination plans, the Justice Department in Washington announced on Tuesday. According to US media reports, former President Donald Trump was one of the possible targets of the attack plans. However, the authorities see no connection with the assassination attempt on July 13, in which a shooter narrowly missed Trump.
According to documents filed in court, the arrested 46-year-old Pakistani had been in Iran before entering the United States in April to advance the assassination plans. The man was reportedly arrested on July 12 as he was trying to leave the United States.
The aim of the plot was to take revenge for the killing of the commander of the Al-Quds Brigades, Kassem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. The attack was ordered by then-President Trump.
In its official statement, the Justice Department did not provide any information about the potential targets of the plot. However, the US broadcaster CNN quoted an unnamed US government official as saying that FBI investigators believe that Trump and other current and former government officials were among the potential targets.
FBI chief Christopher Wray said the arrested 46-year-old had “close ties” to Iran. According to FBI information, the man had wanted to hire several contract killers in the United States. In reality, however, these were undercover agents. The recruitment of contract killers is a method that comes “straight from the Iranian playbook,” explained Wray.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said shortly afterwards that her government was in contact with US authorities about the case.
According to the state news agency Irna, Iran’s mission to the United Nations said it had not been informed about the matter by the US. “It is clear, however, that this method runs counter to the Iranian government’s approach to pursuing Soleimani’s killer,” the mission said.
According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, there is no evidence linking the 46-year-old to the attempted assassination of Trump during a campaign rally in the town of Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The Republican presidential candidate narrowly escaped death when he was hit in the right ear by a bullet from a semi-automatic rifle.
The suspected perpetrator in Butler, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot by a Secret Service sniper. Authorities believe Crooks acted alone.
A few days after the assassination, US media reported that security measures for Trump had been increased before the attempted assassination in Butler because of a suspected Iranian assassination plot. But even then it was said that there was no connection between these suspected Iranian plans and the assassination in Butler. At the time, Tehran strongly denied the reports of the alleged Iranian assassination plot.
US Attorney General Garland said on Tuesday that his department has been “aggressively” fighting Iran’s “brazen and relentless” efforts to retaliate for the killing of Soleimani for years.
