Iran Issues Direct Assassination Threat to Trump Over Ongoing Protests

Iran has issued a stark warning directed at US President Donald Trump, with state-run television airing footage that included a threatening message referencing a past assassination attempt on the former president. The broadcast, reported by AFP, played clips from the July 2024 shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and carried the statement, “This time it will not miss the target,” triggering sharp international attention.

The warning comes amid widespread protests inside Iran, which began in late December and have grown into the largest wave of unrest since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979. The demonstrations have been met with a severe crackdown by Iranian authorities, drawing condemnation from human rights groups and Western governments. The United States has repeatedly criticized Tehran’s response and warned of consequences if executions are carried out against detained protesters.

Trump, who has spoken publicly in recent days about supporting the Iranian people, has also threatened possible military intervention. On Wednesday, however, he said he had been informed by what he described as “very important sources on the other side” that the killings linked to the crackdown were subsiding and that there were no immediate plans for executions.

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The latest threat has revived memories of the July 13, 2024, attack in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman opened fire at a Trump campaign rally, grazing his ear. Images of Trump leaving the stage bloodied but defiant were broadcast globally and have since become a powerful symbol in US political discourse.

This is not the first time Iranian officials or state-linked platforms have threatened Trump. In 2021, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office shared a post vowing revenge for the 2020 US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. Similar threats resurfaced in subsequent years, including US charges in 2022 alleging an Iranian plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton.

Trump has previously responded to such threats with strong warnings of his own, stating last year that he had instructed advisers to “obliterate” Iran if any assassination attempt against him succeeded. The renewed rhetoric on both sides underscores heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran at a time of deep internal instability in Iran and continued strain in US-Iran relations.

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