In a stark warning to Tehran, former President Donald Trump declared that Iran would face total destruction if it attempted to assassinate him.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump revealed that he had given his advisers specific instructions to obliterate the Iranian regime should such an act take place.
“If they did that, they would be obliterated,” Trump said, while signing an executive order aimed at intensifying U.S. pressure on Iran. “There won’t be anything left.”
This warning follows years of heightened concern within federal agencies about Iranian threats against Trump and other top officials from his administration.
Notably, Trump authorised the 2020 drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Recent intelligence has shown that Iranian officials have been plotting attacks on Trump, including a foiled attempt to kill him before the 2020 election. The Justice Department revealed in November that Iranian agents had tried to recruit a criminal network to track and ultimately assassinate the former president.
One such figure, Farhad Shakeri, is still at large in Iran. The Iranian government denied these allegations, dismissing them as part of a conspiracy to damage relations between the U.S. and Iran.
US authorities have been monitoring Iranian plots for years. A threat from Tehran led to increased security around Trump before a Pennsylvania rally in July, where he was reportedly injured in an attempted assassination. However, no direct links to Iran were found in the attack.
Trump also recently revoked security protection for former U.S. officials Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, and John Bolton—individuals who, like Trump, have been vocal in their opposition to Iran. They have faced threats from Iranian entities due to their hardline stance during Trump’s presidency.
