Iran's efforts to assassinate Donald Trump and former senior officials in retaliation for the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani are more extensive and aggressive than previously believed, Politico reported Friday.
"This is extraordinarily serious," Matt Olsen, the Department of Justice's assistant attorney general for national security, told Politico. "Iran has made it very clear that they are determined to seek retaliation against former officials in connection with the Soleimani strike."
Iran has not been hiding its intentions to assassinate Trump and those who oversaw his national security strategy since January 2020, when Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Soleimani, Iran's most powerful military general, at an Iraqi airport.
The Islamic regime has posted videos depicting the future deaths of Trump and others who helped orchestrate the attack, pushed for their arrest and extradition, and issued menacing statements promising revenge, Politco reported.
Although the government has gone to great lengths to protect many of those officials, some who experience similar threats receive no government protection, according to Politico.
Politico reported that it spoke with 24 people with direct knowledge of the Soleimani strike or the ensuing assassination threat, including current and former U.S. lawmakers, Secret Service agents, congressional aides, and senior U.S. officials. Some were granted anonymity because of ongoing threats against them or the sensitivity of their work.
Politico reported many cautioned that Iran lacks sophisticated assassination teams and likely could not pull one off against a well-defended individual inside the U.S. But the two assassination attempts against Trump this year have reopened questions about the government's ability to protect even its senior-most former officials.
In addition to Trump, who receives Secret Service protection as a former president, at least seven former generals, diplomats, and civilian policy advisers from his White House receive a 24/7 government security detail, Politico reported.
The list is includes those with direct ties to the Soleimani killing or were high up in the Trump administration, according to Politico: Mark Esper, secretary of defense; Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Paul Nakasone, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command; Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command; Mike Pompeo, secretary of state; and Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran.
Milley did not respond to requests by Politico for comment. The others declined to comment.
The earliest indication of Iran's willingness to try to kill a former Trump official was with John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser who left office before the Soleimani strike. Bolton is a staunch advocate for taking a hard line against the Islamic regime.
In December 2021, the Biden administration approved Secret Service protection for Bolton.
Some argue the risk to Trump from Iran is increasing. In July, the FBI arrested an Iranian operative who entered the U.S. to arrange the assassination of "a political person" in retaliation for Soleimani's death.
The individual, a Pakistani national, remotely scouted a Trump rally.
On Friday, the Trump campaign reportedly requested, among other things, military aircraft for Trump to travel on during the final weeks of the campaign and expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies in light of the Iranian threat.
The Biden administration said it has sent warnings to Tehran to cease all plotting against Trump and former U.S. officials, according to Politico.