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The United States military has killed the leader of an Iranian unit that was involved in a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday during a news conference at the Pentagon.
"Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh," Hegseth said.
The defense secretary stated that Washington has been aware "for a long time that Iran had intentions on trying to kill President Trump and or other US officials," though he declined to provide specific details about the operation or identify the individual killed.
Hegseth was careful to distance the Trump assassination plot from the broader justification for US military operations, pushing back against reports that the threat against the president was a central factor in launching the campaign. He said targeting those behind the assassination effort was not the main focus of operations and that Trump himself never raised the issue.
"I ensured, and others ensured, that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list," Hegseth said.
American officials have previously accused Iran of seeking to kill Trump in retaliation for the January 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
The strike, ordered by Trump during his first term, marked one of the most significant escalations in US-Iran tensions in decades. Soleimani was widely regarded as one of the most powerful military figures in the Middle East, overseeing Iran's network of proxy forces across the region. His killing drew vows of revenge from Tehran and deepened the longstanding hostility between the two nations.
Hegseth provided no further information on the timing or circumstances of the operation, nor did he identify the Iranian unit or its slain leader. The lack of detail leaves significant questions unanswered about the scope of the strike and where it fits within the wider US military campaign.
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