Iran Denies Attempt to Kill Trump in Written Letter to U.S. Government

The American newspaper 'Wall Street Journal' reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran has denied attempts to kill Donald Trump in a written letter sent to the U.S. government. According to the report published on Friday, November 25, the letter from Iran reached the U.S. government on October 14, three weeks before the U.S. elections. The Wall Street Journal writes that with Donald Trump's return to the White House in the coming weeks, U.S. officials view Iran's confidential letter as an effort by the Islamic Republic to reduce tensions in its critical relations with the United States. U.S. officials also consider the letter a response from Tehran following a private written warning sent by the U.S. to Iran to refrain from assassinating Donald Trump or killing other senior American officials. Neither Tehran nor Washington has officially acknowledged the sending of such a letter, but the Iranian representation at the United Nations had previously denied reports regarding Iran's involvement in a plot to kill Donald Trump. The Biden administration, the Department of Justice under his administration, and U.S. intelligence and security agencies have publicly emphasized that Tehran's threats against Donald Trump are among the top national security issues for the U.S., and any attempt to harm Mr. Trump would be considered an act of war. Despite Tehran providing a 'written letter denying the attempt to kill Donald Trump,' the U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that the Revolutionary Guards were organizing another assassination attempt on Mr. Trump through an operative named Farhad Shakri. Farhad Shakri, 51, born in Afghanistan and believed to currently reside in Iran, had previously lived in the U.S. for about two decades but was imprisoned for serious crimes for 14 years and was expelled from the United States 16 years ago at the end of his sentence. The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week that Farhad Shakri, at the request of a Revolutionary Guards commander, recruited two American citizens who became acquainted with him in U.S. prison and asked them to plan for the assassination of Donald Trump, as well as Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American political activist, two American Jewish figures in New York, and the assassination of Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. Based on Shakri's 'confessions,' obtained through remote questioning by the FBI, two Americans named Carlyle Rivera, 49, and Jonathan Ludolt, 36, both from New York, were immediately arrested, and an indictment was filed against them in federal court in Manhattan, New York. The indictment stated that a Revolutionary Guards commander had asked Farhad Shakri in September (during the final weeks of the U.S. election campaign) to present a plan within a week to kill Trump. The U.S. suspects that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not abandoned its intention to retaliate for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, which was carried out on Donald Trump's orders. Senior military and political officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran have repeatedly spoken about the necessity of avenging the perpetrators of Soleimani's death. Despite the Iranian government's denial of the attempt to kill Mr. Trump, a clip still exists on the official website of Ali Khamenei inciting the killing of Donald Trump, similar to an incident that occurred in the final weeks of his election campaign near his private golf courses in Florida. In that failed assassination attempt, Ryan Roth, a 58-year-old American who had previously encouraged the killing of Trump in his writings, was arrested after placing a weapon near Mr. Trump's golf course on a day he was exercising. Prior to that, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old American, shot Mr. Trump during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania and killed himself. Donald Trump had previously stated several times without providing details that both assassination attempts were apparently linked to Iran. Besides Mr. Trump, Tehran is accused of attempting to plan the killings of Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State in Trump's first term, and John Bolton, his then National Security Advisor. The American publication Newsweek reported on November 24, after a meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which took place the day before at the White House, that Mr. Biden, in presenting a security report on global security threats, told Donald Trump that Iran is the 'most immediate threat.' However, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing some Iranian officials, that Elon Musk, a senior advisor to Mr. Trump, had a 'secret meeting' with Amir Saeed Iravani, the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the United Nations, on the Monday that just passed, six days after Donald Trump's election victory, to discuss ways to reduce tensions in the relationship between the incoming president's government and the Iranian regime. Elon Musk and other members of Mr. Trump's team have not yet responded to this report from the New York Times, but the Washington Post wrote that the confirmation of Donald Trump's return to the White House has fueled intense discussions in the Islamic Republic of Iran about whether to negotiate with his government or take a tougher stance against Washington, possibly moving towards a nuclear bomb. During his first presidential term, Mr. Trump described the JCPOA as 'the worst deal he has ever seen' and adopted a 'maximum pressure' policy against Tehran, ultimately issuing the order to kill Qassem Soleimani. In response, Ali Khamenei has stated that he is strongly opposed to any negotiations with the U.S., especially under the Trump administration. Donald Trump, however, has recently emphasized that he wants to see Iran 'very successful' but that it should not have a nuclear bomb. According to Alex Vatankhah, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, amid the current intense internal discussions in Iran about how Tehran should approach Trump's return to power, a key issue is that Iran was perceived as having seemingly powerful proxy groups during Mr. Trump's previous presidency, but is now weakened compared to eight years ago, with its leaders aging, its economy dying, and its defensive strategy collapsing. On the other hand, Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East that has been engaged in a devastating and deadly war with Tehran's proxy groups for over 13 months, has escalated its expectations against Iran from the incoming president and U.S. government. Eli Cohen, Israel's energy minister and a senior member of Benjamin Netanyahu's party, said on November 24 in an interview with Reuters that his country 'expects the next Trump administration to take a tough stance against Iran and Tehran's nuclear ambitions,' which he said 'will create an opportunity for more peace agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors.' Mr. Cohen stated that Donald Trump has so far appointed officials to serve in his government who 'will certainly support decisive action against Iran,' and from Israel's perspective, 'the most central issue' in Mr. Trump's government is 'decisive action against Iran.'