US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran would be “obliterated” if it attempted to assassinate him, stating that he has left instructions for a decisive response in such a scenario.
“If they did that, they would be obliterated,” Trump told reporters yesterday while signing an executive order aimed at maximising pressure on Tehran. “I’ve left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left.”
🚨BREAKING: Trump says he has left instructions to OBLITERATE Iran if they assassinate him:
“That would be a terrible thing for them to do. If they did that, they would be obliterated. I’ve left instructions.”
“There would be nothing left.” pic.twitter.com/hFC5Cglnbc
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 4, 2025
The US federal authorities have long tracked Iranian threats against Trump and former administration officials, particularly following his 2020 order to assassinate General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force.
Earlier this month Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian denied that Iran had plotted to kill the then-President-elect, telling NBC, “We have never attempted this to begin with and we never will.”
READ: Trump expected to reimpose ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran, official says
Trump survived two assassination attempts during the election campaign, but investigators have found no evidence of Iranian involvement in either.
Blaming former President Joe Biden for not taking a tougher stance, Trump said: “Biden should have said that but he never did. Lack of intelligence perhaps, but he never said it. If that happens to a leader… you would call for total obliteration.”
AP reports that if Trump were assassinated, Vice President JD Vance would succeed him as president and would not necessarily be bound by any instructions left by his predecessor.
On Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Trump stated that Tehran was “too close” to acquiring a weapon. On Monday, a senior political advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed that Iran will use all its power to defend its peaceful nuclear programme.
During a visit to an exhibition showcasing the latest achievements in the nuclear industry at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Shamkhani reiterated that “Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and will never do so,” adding that, “However, it defends its legal rights… with all its might.”
READ: Trump and Netanyahu set for pivotal talks on Middle East agenda