Iran told US it isn't trying to kill Donald Trump, reports say

Foreign citizen charged last week with involvement in plot allegedly ordered by IRGC to assassinate US president-elect

Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2018 from a nuclear deal that provided sanctions relief for Iran. Reuters

Iran informed America in recent weeks that it was not trying to kill president-elect Donald Trump, US media reported on Friday.

In response to a message from President Joe Biden's administration that warned Tehran against making attempts on Mr Trump's life, Iran offered written assurances last month that it was not trying to assassinate the president-elect, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported..

The reports cited officials who said the warning to Iran reflected the administration’s public message that it considered threats against Mr Trump a national security priority and that any attempt on his life would be treated as an act of war, the Journal reported.

The news comes after a foreign citizen was charged last week with involvement in a plot, allegedly ordered by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to assassinate Mr Trump. Last summer, the Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in a murder-for-hire scheme whose targets were believed to be Mr Trump and other US political figures.

The Journal reported that Tehran's letter to Washington was delivered on October 14, nearly a month before Mr Trump won the presidential election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mr Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in July and, in the weeks leading up to the incident, US intelligence had warned of an Iran-backed plan to kill the Republican. There is no evidence the gunman had been tasked by Iran to carry out that shooting.

Tehran and Washington were on rocky terms during Mr Trump's first stint in office, with the US pulling out of the 2015 international nuclear deal that promised sanctions relief in exchange for Iran putting limits on its nuclear programme. The US under his leadership then began a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

In 2020, the Trump administration carried out the assassination of Iranian Quds Force general Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad. Tehran has vowed revenge.

Maj Gen Suleimani's killing was mentioned in Tehran's letter to Washington, the officials told the Journal. The country's UN mission told The National in July that, while it regards Mr Trump as liable over the assassination of the general, it “has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice”.

Iran has also previously described accusations that it was involved in any plot to attack Mr Trump as “unsubstantiated and malicious”. Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently called the allegations a “third-rate comedy”.