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Iran assures US it had no plans to assassinate Trump — media

Tehran sent this written message in a bid to reduce tensions between Iran and the United States amid growing instability in the Middle East, the report says

NEW YORK, November 15. /TASS/. Iran provided written assurances to the Biden administration last month, stating that it would not attempt to kill current US President-elect Donald Trump, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing sources.

Tehran sent this written message in a bid to reduce tensions between Iran and the United States amid growing instability in the Middle East, the WSJ reported. The newspaper did not specify which channels were used to convey the Iranian message, nor did it clarify whether it was communicated directly to Trump or his team.

The Iranian message, delivered on October 14 and previously unreported, was a reply to a private written warning from the US, sent to Tehran in September, US officials told the WSJ. The warning conveyed the administration’s official position that threats against Trump were considered a top-tier national security issue, and that any attempt on his life would be regarded as an act of war.

In response, Iran reaffirmed its desire to avoid conflict with the incoming Republican administration.

In late September, Trump alleged that Iran posed a serious threat to his life on his Truth Social platform. The US presidential candidate’s campaign team, meanwhile, asserted that the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence had warned Trump of "real and specific" threats from Tehran, intended to destabilize the United States.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani Chafi stated that Tehran regarded Trump’s statements about Iranian threats to his life as mere election rhetoric. At the same time, President Joe Biden ordered the US Department of Defense to ensure his predecessor’s security as if Trump were the acting head of state.

Trump survived two assassination attempts this year: one during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July, when a sniper shot at him, grazing his ear, and a second in September, when a radical supporter of aid to Ukraine opened fire near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump subsequently demanded military aircraft and special vehicles to protect him from an alleged Iranian threat to his life, the Washington Post reported earlier, citing sources.

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