US intelligence officials have briefed former US President Donald Trump on a suspected Iranian plot to assassinate him, his campaign staff said.
The briefing, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), is believed to have focused on a scheme unrelated to two failed assassination attempts on the Republican presidential nominee, and came amid reports suggesting Iran is conducting a hacking spree. against the Trump campaign.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said the conference was about "real and specific threats by Iran to kill [Trump] in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States."
"Intelligence officials have identified that these sustained and coordinated attacks have increased in recent months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure that President Trump is protected and the election is free of interference," he added. .
Trump referenced the conference in a post on his Social Truth page and predicted another assassination attempt on him.
"Major threats to my life from Iran," he wrote. "Moves have already been made by Iran that didn't work, but they will try again. It's not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more people, guns and weapons than I have ever seen before….An attack on a former president is a death wish for the attacker!”
Intelligence officials were reported to have traced an Iran-backed plot to assassinate Trump even before the July 13 attempt, which was carried out by a lone gunman, Thomas Crooks, who killed a rally attendee before was himself killed by a Secret Service agent.
Investigators have found no evidence that Crooks, 20, was part of a larger conspiracy and have concluded that he acted alone.
Iran's motivation to kill Trump is believed to stem from a desire for revenge for his decision when he was president to order the US strike that killed Major General Qassim Soleimani, commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, in January 2020.
Iran has denied plotting to kill Trump.