Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran if it tries to assassinate him

If Trump were assassinated, VP J D Vance would assume the presidency and would not be obligated to follow Trump’s directives

PGurus Newsdesk

February 5, 2025

If Trump were assassinated, VP J D Vance would assume the presidency and would not be obligated to follow Trump’s directives

Trump issues warning amid Iranian threats

US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that he had instructed his advisers to obliterate Iran if Tehran orchestrates an assassination against him.

Trump’s warning to Iran

During an exchange with reporters at the signing of an executive order imposing maximum pressure on Tehran, Trump stated:

“If they did that, they would be obliterated. I’ve left instructions—if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left.”

If Trump were assassinated, Vice President J D Vance would assume the presidency and would not be required to follow Trump’s directives. Federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other officials for years.

Security concerns surrounding Trump

Federal authorities have been monitoring Iranian threats against Trump and other former administration officials for years. Trump’s 2020 decision to order the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, leader of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, heightened tensions between the US and Iran.

In July, additional security measures were implemented before a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot in the ear. While authorities acknowledged the presence of Iran-related threats, they stated at the time that Iran was not connected to the assassination attempt.

Foiled Iranian plot to assassinate Trump

In November, the Justice Department revealed that an Iranian plot to kill Trump before the 2024 presidential election had been thwarted.

Authorities alleged that Farhad Shakeri, 51, an Iranian agent, was instructed in September to conduct surveillance and plan Trump’s assassination. Shakeri remains at large in Iran.

Iranian officials denied the allegations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei claiming the report was a fabrication by Israel-linked sources to complicate Iran-US relations.

Details of the assassination plot

According to the criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan, Shakeri, an Afghan national living in Iran, was recruited by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. He was allegedly instructed to abandon other operations and formulate an assassination plan within seven days.

Shakeri had previously served time in US prisons for robbery and was known to have a network of criminal associates enlisted by Tehran for surveillance and murder-for-hire plots, according to US officials.