TOP STORIES
Trump Security Boosted Weeks Ago Over Iran Plot To Kill Him | BBC
Protection for Donald Trump was boosted several weeks ago after US authorities learned of an Iranian plot to kill him, according to national security officials. Officials say there is no known connection between the alleged Iranian plot and the assassination attempt on the former president on Saturday in Pennsylvania. However, the disclosure that security had been tightened raises further questions over how Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was able to climb a building and get close enough to fire at Trump. The US Secret Service and the Trump campaign were notified of the Iranian threat, and security was increased as a result, according to a US national security official. The Iranian mission at the United Nations called the report "unsubstantiated and malicious", adding that Trump was "a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law". Intelligence sources told CBS, the BBC's US news partner, that the Secret Service bolstered security in June in response to the Iranian threat. This included extra counter-assault and counter-sniper agents, drones and robotic dogs.
Iran Rejects Accusations It Was Involved In Plots To Assassinate Trump | Associated Press
Iran has rejected accusations regarding plots to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump, while citing legal action for the 2020 assassination of a revered general by U.S. drone, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani as saying Iran “strongly rejects any involvement in the recent armed attack on Trump or claims about Iran’s intention for such an action.” Kanaani added, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to pursue legal action against Trump for his direct role in the crime of assassinating Martyr General Qassem Soleimani.” Soleimani was the commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad in January 2020.
Iran Open To Resuming Nuclear Accord Talks - Acting Foreign Minister | Reuters
Tehran remains open to resuming negotiations with Washington on restoring their participation in a nuclear agreement, Iran's acting foreign minister told Newsweek magazine in an interview published on Tuesday. Ali Bagheri Kani's remarks come as he prepares to address the United Nations Security Council in New York. The United States under President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 from the nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers which restricted Tehran's nuclear programmes. Indirect talks between the U.S. and Tehran to revive the deal have stalled. Iran is still part of the agreement but it has decreased its commitments due to U.S. sanctions imposed on it. Newsweek said: "On the foreign policy front, he (Bagheri Kani) said that Tehran remained open to resuming negotiations with Washington toward restoring mutual participation in a nuclear deal." However, Iran also intended to foster its deepening ties with China, Russia and neighboring nations, it quoted him as saying. Iran will also call for greater action against Israel in view of the Gaza war, he said. The Biden administration said last week the United States was not ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran under its new president.
UANI IN THE NEWS
US Reportedly Received Intel Of Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump | Daily Caller
U.S. authorities reportedly received intelligence ahead of an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump over the weekend that Iran was reportedly plotting to kill him, CNN reported on Tuesday. The intelligence, provided to U.S. authorities by a human source, prompted the Secret Service to ramp up protections for the former president in the weeks leading up to the shooting, several people briefed on the matter told CNN. […] “Once again, we lack an effective policy to deter Iran‘s regime from these attacks,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran and scholar at the Middle East Institute, said in a statement on Tuesday. “A strongly-worded press statement, beefed up security, and perhaps sanctions and an indictment will not suffice.”
Iran Calls Accusations Of Plot To Kill Trump ‘Unsubstantiated And Malicious’ | Fox News
Accusations that Iran plotted to have former President Trump killed are "unsubstantiated and malicious," Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations told Fox News Digital. Authorities received intelligence in recent weeks from a human source regarding an Iranian plot to kill Trump, which prompted an increase in U.S. Secret Service protection, federal law enforcement sources told Fox News. The plot doesn't appear to be connected to Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, the gunman who shot Trump during his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, the sources said. […] "The U.S. government should deny a visa to Iran’s regime’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani," said United Against Nuclear Iran CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace. "He is visiting New York as Tehran plots assassination and kidnapping attempts against Americans on U.S. soil.” “When Iranian officials have visited the United States in the past, a delegation of individuals have accompanied them who have troubling ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is spearheading these operations against Americans," he added.
Russian Games Make Secret Tanker Oil Switching Harder To Trace | Bloomberg
Two near-identical oil tankers trying to beat western sanctions. A secret transfer of Russian crude halfway between Iran and Oman. A supertanker giving a false location. Welcome to the modern trade in Russian petroleum as western sanctions get tougher. Earlier this month, the 1,089-foot supertanker Oxis collected about 1 million barrels of Russia’s flagship Urals crude from another vessel. The delivering ship was one of two owned and operated by Russia’s state tanker company Sovcomflot PJSC, according to TankerTrackers.com Inc, which specializes in detecting secretive cargo movements. […] The Oxis was sailing under the name Uzor until earlier this year and was identified by United Against Nuclear Iran as taking cargoes of Iranian crude by ship-to-ship transfer in October and December 2021.
MISSILE PROGRAM
Drones Target Iraq's Ain Al-Asad Airbase, No Casualties, Say Military Sources | Reuters
Two armed drones on Tuesday targeted Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts U.S forces and other international forces in western Iraq, two Iraqi military sources told Reuters. It was the second attack against U.S. forces in Iraq since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops. In April, two drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad base, according to a U.S. official. No casualties have been reported, said the sources. An Iraqi military official said defence systems downed one drone near the base perimeter. Iraqi army patrols stepped up patrolling the areas around the base to prevent possible further attacks, said an Iraqi army official. The attack came less than a week before an expected visit by a high level Iraqi military delegation to Washington to continue talks on ending the U.S.-led military coalition in the country. Washington and Baghdad in January initiated talks to reassess the draw-down of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, formed in 2014 to help fight Islamic State after the extremist Sunni Muslim militant group overran large parts of the country.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Kurdish Journalist Denied Family Contact In Iran | Iran Wire
An Iranian prison has blocked a Kurdish journalist and political prisoner from communicating with her family for the past two weeks. Pakhshan Azizi, who is currently held in Tehran's Evin Prison on charges of "rebellion," has been denied access to both phone calls and in-person visits.A source close to Azizi's family revealed that their attempts to contact her by phone or visit her in prison have been unsuccessful, according to a report by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Azizi has been in detention for 347 days after Branch 5 of the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office accused her of "rebellion" through "membership in opposition groups." Azizi's ordeal began on August 4, 2023, when she was arrested by Iranian Intelligence forces in Tehran's Kharazi town. She was initially held in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, known for housing detainees of the Iranian Intelligence Service, and then transferred to the women's ward on December 11, 2023.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking a potential Iranian assassination plot against former President Donald J. Trump in the weeks before a gunman opened fire last weekend, several officials said on Tuesday, but they added that they did not consider the threat related to the shooting that wounded Mr. Trump. The intelligence prompted the Secret Service to enhance security for the former president before his outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, officials said. Yet whatever additional measures were taken did not stop a 20-year-old local man from clambering on top of a nearby warehouse roof to shoot at Mr. Trump, grazing his right ear and coming close to killing him. The National Security Council contacted the Secret Service to be sure it was tracking the latest reporting and the agency shared the information with the head of Mr. Trump’s detail, according to a national security official, who like others shared sensitive information on condition of anonymity.
US Received Intel Of Iranian Plot To Assassinate Trump, CNN Reports | Reuters
The United States received intelligence in recent weeks about an Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump, CNN said on Tuesday, and a U.S. official said the Secret Service shared details of an increased threat with the Trump campaign. The White House declined to comment, but said there were no indications that the suspected shooter in Saturday's attempted assassination of Trump had any foreign or domestic accomplices. Iran said the accusations against it were "unsubstantiated and malicious." U.S. officials have for years worried that Tehran would retaliate against Trump for his ordering of the January 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. “As we have said many times, we have been tracking Iranian threats against former Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration," said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. "These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority," she said. CNN reported that the intelligence about the Iranian plot was passed on by a human source. A U.S. official said that on learning of the increased threat, the National Security Council contacted the Secret Service, which added resources and assets for Trump's protection.
The Secret Service boosted security for former President Donald Trump after learning about a suspected Iranian plot to assassinate him, multiple outlets reported on Tuesday—though the scheme appears to be unrelated to Saturday’s shooting targeting Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. KEY FACTS Sources familiar with the matter told CNN and The New York Times that U.S. authorities had gained intelligence about a possible plot in recent weeks by Iran, and ramped up security measures ahead of Trump’s planned rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Both outlets report there is no indication the Iranian plot was connected to Saturday’s shooting in which a bullet grazed Trump’s ear, which authorities say was carried out by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. The Iranian plot reportedly stems from Trump’s 2020 order to kill Iran’s Major Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Stabbed Iran International Journalist Flees To Israel Over Safety Concerns | Arab News
Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati has fled to Israel citing safety concerns after an assassination attempt in London in March. In an interview with The Guardian, Zeraati revealed that his move from London to an undisclosed location in Israel was a “reluctant” but necessary decision. “The place I live right now is a little safer,” he said in an interview published Tuesday. “There have been communications between the UK police and the police here. They know about my situation and have taken extra measures to make sure I’m safe in Israel.” Zeraati was attacked outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London, by three unidentified men who reportedly fled the country immediately after the attack. Police believe the attackers were part of a criminal gang from Eastern Europe acting on behalf of the Iranian government. Suspicion increased following a series of foiled plots aimed at kidnapping or killing employees of Iran International, a London-based network that Tehran has classified as a terrorist organization. Zeraati, who was hospitalized with a leg injury, criticized the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil, saying it could not guarantee his safety.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
As Azerbaijan Reopens Iran Embassy, Normalization Remains Shaky | Al Monitor
he spokesman for the Iranian government, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, confirmed the reopening of the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran after 18 months of closure prompted by a deadly attack inside the mission's former building. In an X post on Monday, Bahadori Jahromi welcomed the move, applauding late President Ebrahim Raisi's diplomatic efforts that he said were "bearing fruit" even after his death. Baku decided to suspend all activities of its Tehran embassy in January 2023 after a staff member was killed in a shooting inside the promises. Azerbaijani authorities linked the attack to a preplanned "terrorist" plot, but Tehran dismissed the assertion, saying the assailant, who is currently facing trial, stormed the building with personal motives. In a press release on its official website announcing the resumption of the embassy's work, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said Tehran had pledged guarantees for the security of the new building and protection of staff under arrangements set out by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.