Washington.- U.S. President Donald Trump stated this Friday that he has instructed the Pentagon to bomb Iran to “levels never seen before” in the event that he is assassinated as a result of a plot by the Islamic Republic.
“I’ve been on their list for a long time. It’s what we’re up against,” Trump declared in an interview with The New York Post. “I’ve left instructions: if anything happens, literally bomb them to levels they’ve never seen before,” he added.
Trump responded in this way to press reports according to which Israel may have warned the United States that Iran could be developing a new plan to assassinate him.
However, in the same interview, the president implied that there is no recent plot, although he maintained that Tehran has considered him a target for years: “No, no. Israel has not said anything. No, no,” he stated. “I have been number one for a long time, and that’s life, you know?”
“I hope they miss me,” he added, when asked about a possible assassination.
Alleged Iran plot to assassinate Trump
The warning comes amid a new escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran, marked by recent military clashes and cross-threats that have ended the ceasefire reached last month.
Trump had already acknowledged on Wednesday, during his participation in the NATO summit in Turkey, that he is one of Iran’s main targets, and linked those threats to the 2020 assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, in an operation ordered during his first term.
On the other hand, Iran buried its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, this Thursday, who died in a bombing on the first day of the offensive launched by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic on February 28.
More Read
Once again, his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, did not appear in public; he has not been seen since February 28, nor since he was designated supreme leader on March 8, and all kinds of rumors have not ceased to circulate regarding his state of health.
Negotiations with an ended truce
Trump also announced that his country will maintain negotiations with Iran to end the conflict, although he insisted that the ceasefire agreed upon last month has already ended.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue the talks. We have agreed to do so, but the United States has made it clear to them, without a doubt, that the ceasefire is over,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
But the last two days of exchange of attacks in the Persian Gulf have left the ceasefire hanging by a thread and have caused at least 14 deaths on Iranian soil.
Tehran maintains that the American actions “have rendered key and fundamental parts” of the signed memorandum null and void, while Trump went further and declared the ceasefire over.
