A newly leaked intelligence report contended that Iran has been plotting to assassinate U.S. officials on American soil, including former President Donald Trump, and this information was known ahead of President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East.

The threat assessment regarding the state sponsor of terror was part of an intelligence report dated June 16, 2022 that Yahoo News obtained. The motivation behind their desire to assassinate current and former senior officials like Trump and secretary of state Mike Pompeo stemmed from the Jan. 2020 drone strike that took out Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

As previously reported, Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force (IRGC-QF) was killed by a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport meant to deter “future Iranian attack plans” under the direction of Trump.

According to Yahoo, the report marked “Not for Public Release” and “For Official Use Only” which came two days after Biden announced his recently concluded trip to the Middle East stated, “The Iranian regime is waging a multipronged campaign — including threats of lethal action, international legal maneuvering, and the issuance of Iranian arrest warrants and sanctions — against select US officials to avenge to the death of IRGC-QF Commander Soleimani in January 2020, raising the threat at home and abroad for those Iran views as responsible for the killing.”

The intelligence acknowledged that these efforts were ongoing and made mention of an alleged plan to fly a plane into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to avenge Soleimani’s death.

Trump admin briefed on threat to fly plane into U.S. Capitol in response to death of Iranian Soleimani https://t.co/0PlUzSYfV2 pic.twitter.com/T4egXhbRQl

— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) January 6, 2021

“Since January 2021, Tehran has publicly expressed a willingness to conduct lethal operations inside the United States and has consistently identified former President Donald Trump, former secretary of state Michael Pompeo, and former CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie as among its priority targets for retribution,” the report continued.

It went on to state, “Iran would probably view the killing or prosecution of a US official it considers equivalent in rank and stature to Soleimani or responsible for his death as successful retaliatory actions.”

Though none of the named parties in the report were said to have responded to Yahoo News’ requests for comment, Pompeo had offered a few takes on Biden’s trip to the Middle East on Twitter, first offering, “As Secretary of State, I made clear that Israel was our most important ally in the Middle East. President Biden is treating Israel like an adversary, not a trusted friend. Instead, he’s empowering Iran – this is bad for Middle East peace and bad for American security.”

As Secretary of State, I made clear that Israel was our most important ally in the Middle East. President Biden is treating Israel like an adversary, not a trusted friend. Instead, he's empowering Iran – this is bad for Middle East peace and bad for American security.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 14, 2022

Pompeo then posted the next day, “The Commander in Chief’s job description is, quite literally, to protect our democracy and way of life from threats, foreign and domestic. Joe Biden allows threats inside our country to multiply, while strengthening and emboldening our adversaries abroad.”

The Commander in Chief’s job description is, quite literally, to protect our democracy and way of life from threats, foreign and domestic.

Joe Biden allows threats inside our country to multiply, while strengthening and emboldening our adversaries abroad.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 15, 2022

Yahoo suggested that circulation of the intelligence report within the government and to law enforcement agencies was meant to produce the opposite effect and was aimed at garnering “support from policymakers across the aisle and others.” However, it was stated that national security adviser Jake Sullivan had already announced Monday that the Iranian regime plans to provide aid through missiles and training for Russian forces in their ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Despite these knowns, the administration has remained undeterred from the efforts to resume the Iran nuclear deal claiming it to be “the best available option to restrict Iran’s nuclear program and provide a platform to address Iran’s destabilizing conduct.”

As Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and expert on Iran put it, “It is baffling how the administration is trying to negotiate a deal with a government that has a river of terror threats against current and former U.S. officials.”

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Kevin Haggerty

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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