Israel shares fresh intelligence with US on alleged Iran plot to kill Trump amid rising tensions: Reports | World

Israel shared new intelligence with the United States this week that Iran had devised a new plan to assassinate US President Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The report comes as tensions escalate between the US and Iran over fresh strikes after three vehicles were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. Washington has monitored a wide range of intelligence about possible plans to assassinate Trump,  “but the warning from Israel was new and concerned a specific plot,” CNN reported.

Tehran has reportedly vowed to assassinate the American President following the assassinations of major leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020, during his first term. According to the WSJ report, Israel’s embassy in Washington declined to comment on the matter, while Iran’s Mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond either.

What did the White House say?

On the matter, the White House reportedly referred journalists to comments Trump made on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in Ankara during the NATO summit. “They want to take out the US leader – me. I’m on every list. I saw this morning that I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long,” Trump told reporters. 

Heightened security after NATO summit

Security adjustments already appear to be underway on the ground as US intelligence agencies work through the fresh warnings. Trump used his old Air Force One plane to leave Turkey, sending his new Qatari-gifted jet on ahead to Britain, where he switched planes for the journey to Washington.

On his Truth Social platform, the US leader stated he was dispatching the new jet to Mildenhall airbase, allowing service members the “chance to tour the aircraft. “Everybody is so excited, and we thought that they should be the first. For old time’s sake, we’ll be taking the former Air Force One, from Turkey,” Trump added.

It is worth noting here that the switch away from the new jet on its maiden foreign trip has fuelled speculation that security concerns were behind the decision, amidst recent US strikes on Iran.

(Written by Bhavye Dhalla. He is an intern with IndiaTV Digital.)

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